Encyclopedia of sociology by Edgar F. Borgatta, Rhonda J. V. Montgomery (z-lib.org)

CIVIL LIBERTIES

Quinn, James 1950 Human Ecology. New York: Pren- Blake, ed., Annual Review of Sociology. Palo Alto,
tice-Hall. Calif.: Annual Reviews Inc.

Rubin-Kurtzman, Jane R., Roberto Ham Chande, and Ward, Peter M. 1998 Mexico City: Revised Second Edition.
Maurice D. Van Arsdol, Jr. 1993 ‘‘Population in Chichester, N.Y.: John Wiley.
Trans-Border Regions: The Southern California-Baja,
California Urban System.’’ International Migration Weber, M. 1958 ‘‘The Nature of the City.’’ In Don
Review 30:1020–1045. Martindale and Gertrude Neuwirth, eds., The City.
New York: Free Press.
Sabagh, Georges, Maurice D. Van Arsdol, Jr., and Edgar
W. Butler 1969 ‘‘Determinants of Intrametropolitan White, Michael J. 1987 American Neighborhoods and Resi-
Residential Mobility: Conceptual Considerations.’’ dential Differentiation. New York: Russell Sage
Social Forces 48, 1:88–97. Foundation.

Sassen, Saskia 1991 The Global City. Princeton, N.J.: Wilson, David 1997 ‘‘Preface.’’ In Alan W. Heston, ed.,
Princeton University Press. David O. Wilson, special ed., The Annals of the Ameri-
can Academy of Political and Social Science: Globalization
Shevky, Eshref, and Wendell Bell 1955 Social Area Analy- and the Changing U.S. City, 551: 8–16.
sis: Theory, Illustrative Applications and Computational
Procedures. Stanford Sociological Series, no. 1. Stan- Wirth, Louis 1938 ‘‘Urbanism as a Way of Life.’’ Ameri-
ford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. can Journal of Sociology 44:1–24.

Shryock, Henry S., Jacob S. Siegel, and associates 1976 Wolf, Eric R. 1982 Europe and the People Without History.
The Materials and Methods of Demography, condensed Berkeley: University of California Press.
edition ed. by Edward G. Stockwell. San Diego: Aca-
demic Press/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. MAURICE D. VAN ARSDOL, JR.

Sjoberg, Gideon 1968 ‘‘The Modern City.’’ In David L. CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Sills, ed., International Encyclopedia of the Social Sci-
ences, vol. 1. New York: MacMillan and Free Press. See Protest Movements; Student Movements.

——— 1960 The Pre-Industrial City: Past and Present. New CIVIL LIBERTIES
York: Free Press.
Civil liberties and associated controversies reflect
Theodorson, George A. 1982 Urban Patterns: Studies in the basic sociological issue of what may comprise
Human Ecology. University Park: Pennsylvania State the requirements of a free yet sustainable society.
University Press. Classical interests of social thought directly or
indirectly concern civil liberties because they ad-
Tilly, Charles 1974 The Formation of National States in dress the degree to which individuals may exercise
Western Europe. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Universi- autonomy within the bounds of enduring social
ty Press. relations and community needs. Some of sociolo-
gy’s most venerable research has focused directly
Turk, Herman 1977 Organizations in Modern Life: Cities on civil liberties. Stouffer’s Communism, Conformi-
and Other Large Networks. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ty, and Civil Liberties (1955) served as an intellectu-
al punctuation mark on the McCarthy era, the
United Nations 1998 World Urbanization Prospects: The period during which public discord over civil liber-
1996 Revision. New York: United Nations. ties reached its most intense state in the post-
World War II world. Sociological thinking and
U.S. Bureau of the Census 1997 Statistical Abstract of the research has helped American intellectuals and
United States. Washington, D.C.: Government Print- policy makers frame the issues associated with civil
ing Office. liberties and understand the implications of deci-
sions regarding civil liberties for the well-being of
Waldinger, Roger, and Mehdi Bozorgmehr 1996 ‘‘The society.
Making of a Multicultural Metropolis.’’ In Roger
Waldinger and Mehdi Bozorgmehr, eds., Ethnic Los
Angeles. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Wallerstein, Immanuael 1974 The Modern World System:
Capitalist Agriculture and the Origin of the European
World Economy in the Sixteenth Century. New York:
Academic Press.

Walton, John 1993 ‘‘Urban Sociology: The Contribu-
tion and Limits of Political Economy.’’ In Judith

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Civil liberties may be understood as legally safeguarding free speech, prohibiting unreason-
protected areas in which the individual may func- able search and seizure, and limiting the criminal
tion without interference by the state or the broad- justice system’s ability to require citizens to give
er community of citizens. ‘‘Civil liberties’’ are ana- self-incriminating testimony. Civil liberties advo-
lytically distinct from ‘‘civil rights.’’ Civil liberties cates depend heavily on legal doctrines and de-
concern the individual’s freedom from the broad- vices derivative of the Bill of Rights such as fair-
er society and its laws. Civil rights derive from the ness, equal protection of the law, and the right of
individual’s claim on society and the state to give privacy.
him or her equal protection through the state’s
police power and equal rights regarding public The late twentieth century saw a vast exten-
facilities, services, and largesse. Civil liberties con- sion of activities to which the status of a civil liberty
cern the individual’s rights to think, speak, and act was applied. The 1998 edition of the American
outside the state’s apparatus and jurisdiction. Civil Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) The Year in Civil
rights address the individual’s claim on equal ac- Liberties, for example, reports challenges by ACLU
cess to public resources such as buses and schools, units to practices and policies such as:
protection from harm by state agencies, and par-
ticipation in government and politics. • Religious celebration in public settings
(viz. school prayer and holiday displays),
Sociology offers several core capabilities to
promote the citizens’ and policy makers’ under- • Youth curfews,
standing of civil liberties and the implications of
related public decisions. Classical and contempo- • Prohibition of marijuana use for medical
rary work by sociologists has pertinence in three purposes,
areas. First, sociological theory and commentary
informed by theory helps specify the central di- • School vouchers,
lemmas raised by civil liberties. Second, sociologi-
cal research enables observers to discover the state • Wrongful dismissal from employment due
of public opinion regarding civil liberties, the to politics or sexual preference,
dynamics by which public opinion has developed
and changed in the past, and the manner in which • Restraint and corporal punishment of
public opinion may unfold in the future. Finally, prisoners and ‘‘high-risk’’ legal defendants,
sociological thinking and research serves as a re-
source for understanding the potential conse- • The death penalty,
quences of public decisions regarding civil liber-
ties in the years to come. This last capability can aid • Prohibition of public funding for
public decision making and help lay groundwork abortions,
for achieving the broadest range of civil liberty in
society while maintaining the social cohesion nec- • Legal barriers to adoption of children by
essary to ensure stability, continuity, and affirma- lesbian or gay individuals or couples,
tion of individual life by core social institutions.
• Restriction of legal marriage to hetero-
Debate regarding civil liberties has traditional- sexuals only,
ly concerned freedom of expression and due proc-
ess. Positions regarding freedom of expression • ‘‘Sodomy’’ laws.
have sought to protect the right of individuals to
publicly support politically unpopular causes or to According to the ACLU document, these laws
display or publish material others may view as and policies belong to a common category of
objectionable (e.g., pornography). Due process threats to ‘‘fairness, freedom of expression, equali-
issues have focused on the rights of defendants in ty, and keeping the government out of our private
criminal cases and claimants in civil and adminis- lives.’’
trative proceedings. Civil liberties advocates have
drawn core support from the Bill of Rights and The ACLU does not unilaterally speak for
subsequent amendments to the U.S. Constitution those concerned with civil liberties. But controver-
sy surrounding the ACLU’s extended definition of
civil liberties recapitulates central issues in socio-
logical theory, social thought, and public policy.
Early social theorists emerging from free-market
economics and utilitarianism encountered (wit-
tingly or by implication) the question of what

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holds society together, given that individuals ‘‘natu- process and equal protection under the Four-
rally’’ behave in an atomized manner. Modern teenth Amendment.’’ This reshaping has had an
participants in civil liberties controversies con- ‘‘elitist’’ quality, proceeding through abstract legal
front (again wittingly or by implication) a tension reasoning and argument but materially harmful,
between unrestricted individual liberty and the particularly to the economically disadvantaged.
needs of the community and requirements for According to Siegel’s argument, civil liberties vic-
viable social institutions. tories in court place burdens on social institutions
and prevent them from responding to social reali-
Etzioni, in an essay commenting on the ACLU’s ty. Siegel writes:
expansion of concerns, emphasizes contradictions
between individual liberties and community needs Civil liberties have become an economic issue
(Etzioni 1991). He stresses the necessity of modify- as those who can afford it either flee the cities
ing constitutionally protected individual rights in or buy out of public institutions. For those who
instances of compelling social exigency. Examples can’t afford to pay for private school, or
of such modification in the late twentieth century private vacations, and are left with junkie
included x-raying of luggage at airports, conduct- infested parks, who can’t afford the private
ing voluntary fingerprinting of children to facili- buses which compete with public transporta-
tate their identification if kidnapped, contact-track- tion, and are unable to pay for private police
ing for people infected with HIV, and mandatory protection, the rights revolution has become a
drug testing of workers whose impairment endan- hollow victory. The imposition of formal
gers others, such as train engineers. Although equality, the sort that makes it almost impossi-
these measures have enjoyed public support and ble, for instance, to expel violent high school
none has materially affected the basic rights of the students, has produced great substantive ine-
general population, each has been the focus of quality as would-be achievers are left stranded
civil liberties controversies and actions. in procedurally purified, but failing institu-
tions. (Siegel 1991)
Etzioni characterizes opposition to measures
such as these as ‘‘radical individualism,’’ encour- Both Etzioni’s and Siegel’s critique of the civil
aged at late century by an imbalance between liberties movement reflect sociology’s core per-
‘‘excessive individual rights and insufficient social spective and concern, the essential tension be-
responsibility.’’ His analysis characterizes the U.S. tween individualistic and social forces. More con-
Constitution as broader than a code of legal provi- cretely, sociology’s traditional concern with civil
sions to protect the individual from government. liberties has focused on the citizen’s thinking re-
The law of the land is also a reflection of ‘‘public garding tolerance of deviation. Survey research
morality, social values, and civic virtue.’’ Eclipse of has served as the primary source of such information.
these elements of civil society, Etzioni implies,
precludes even marginal modification of legal tra- Stouffer’s above-referenced classic sounded
ditions in the face of compelling social need. He an optimistic note at the conclusion of the McCar-
warns that resulting governmental paralysis may thy era. His study focused on tolerance of people
ultimately give rise to popular disillusionment, espousing communism and atheism, ‘‘nonconform-
social distress, and abandonment of safeguards to ist’’ ideologies that excited widespread public hos-
personal liberty on a far greater scale than the tility at the time. In separate surveys conducted by
marginal modifications initially proposed. the National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
and the Gallup organization, Stouffer asked re-
Another critic of ACLU positions alleges that spondents whether communists and atheists should
the imbalance between one-sided civil liberties be allowed to speak in their communities, whether
protection and community needs has already af- they should be allowed to teach in colleges or
fected American social institutions adversely and universities, and whether their books should be
to a significant degree. Siegel (1991) writes that removed from public libraries.
‘‘the libertarians and their allies in the courts have
. . . reshaped virtually every American public insti- The Stouffer study is remembered largely for
tution in the light of their understanding of due reporting relationships between two focuses of

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social distinction and tolerance for the noncon- doubt upon the causal chain implied above: that
formist ideologies. Community leaders and peo- low social status (indicated by education) ‘‘causes’’
ple with advanced education were more likely to authoritarian personality, and that authoritarian
score in the ‘‘more tolerant’’ range than the na- personality subsequently ‘‘causes’’ intolerance of
tional cross section. On this basis, Stouffer con- civil liberties for nonconformists and deviates.
cluded that Americans would become more toler- Reanalyzing Stouffer’s data, these investigators
ant of nonconformity in the decades to follow, found relationships between authoritarianism and
since the average American was receiving more intolerance of communists and atheists only among
years of education than his or her parents. Level of the more highly educated. In the 1990 GSS data,
education correlated strongly with tolerance in they found relationships between authoritarian-
every age group except sixty and over. ism and intolerance for blacks and Jews again
confined to the educated. The investigators con-
A subtheme in the heritage left by Stouffer was clude that there is no substantive relationship
evidence for personality-based causes of intoler- between class and authoritarianism. Evidence does
ance regarding civil liberties for deviants. Experi- emerge for a relationship between personality
ence with European totalitarianism had led psy- factors and both support for civil liberties for
chologists to develop the theory of the ‘‘authoritarian nonconformists and tolerance of minorities. But
personality.’’ Measured according to a device known the roots of these personality factors are unknown
as the ‘‘F scale,’’ personalities of this kind were and presumably much more complex than class-
distinguished by a simplistic world view, respect based socialization.
for power, and obedience to authority (Adorno
1950). Statistically significant relationships were Changes in public concerns since the 1950s
found between F scale items and intolerance in the make it risky to apply the findings of Adorno,
Stouffer data. Consistent with these findings, soci- Stouffer, and others of their era to today’s citizens
ologists such as Lipset (1981) claimed that authori- and social issues. By the end of the twentieth
tarianism was more likely to be found in the century, communism and atheism had ceased to
working rather than the middle or upper classes. It be mainstream public concerns in the United States.
is tempting to conclude that a negative relation- Analysis of civil liberties issues regarding crime
ship between education and basic authoritarian- had risen to prominence. Remedies such as per-
ism explains the greater willingness of educated manent incarceration of habitual criminals and
people to extend civil liberties to the politically community notification regarding sex offenders
unpopular, and to speculate that greater educa- (‘‘Megan’s Law’’) had been widely adopted. In-
tion will reduce, if it has not reduced already, creased latitude by police for searching and sur-
personality-related proclivities toward intolerance. veillance of citizens was widely discussed.

Later research, though, has shown the sociolo- Public attitudes favoring compromise of civil
gy of public opinion regarding civil liberties to be liberties in the interests of aggressive law enforce-
more complex. Early critics pointed out technical ment seemed stable during the 1980s and 1990s.
flaws in the F scale. The scale’s items, for example, Comparison over time of poll results on the trade-
were all worded in the same direction, encourag- off between aggressive policing and civil liberties
ing positive responses. Critics raised the possibility indicates growing support for warrantless police
that reported relationships between F scale scores searches of cars and drivers. Decided majorities of
and education merely reflected a positive response respondents to Roper and Gallup polls in 1985
bias which was particularly strong among working- and 1986 approved of school officials’ searching
class respondents. Members of the working class, students’ belongings for drugs or weapons, again
it was theorized, have a tendency to acquiesce to without a warrant. The late twentieth century,
strong, positive assertions, particularly when these though, saw no large-scale support for abandon-
are presented by higher-status individuals such as ment of civil liberties in pursuit of greater security.
pollsters. One trend showed a modest rise in support for
surveillance of citizens, but another indicated just
Reanalysis of the Stouffer data and analysis of the opposite: the public did not think it was neces-
data from NORC’s 1990 General Social Survey sary to ‘‘give up some civil liberties’’ to prevent
(GSS) by Schuman, Bobo, and Krysan (1992) casts terrorism (Shaw 1998).

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Civil libertarians might feel more alarmed by of syphilis and gonorrhea. To what extent, re-
the polls’ findings regarding public ignorance about searchers should ask, may the objective signifi-
constitutional rights. According to one survey, cance of these threats have been exaggerated by
only 56 percent of Americans were aware of the public emotion?
innocent-until-proven-guilty principle (Parisi 1979).
In another study, only one-third of the respon- The impacts of small modifications of civil
dents correctly indicated the truth or falsehood of liberties on the problems these measures are in-
a statement regarding double jeopardy (McGarrell tended to ameliorate should also be viewed as
and Flanagan 1985). empirical issues. Does contact-tracking of people
with AIDS actually drive some underground, mak-
Review of the studies cited above implies two ing their disease invisible to society and hence
major conclusions about public opinion regarding more dangerous? If so, how many go underground,
civil liberties. First, social determinants of support for how long, and by what means? Research on
for civil liberties are likely to be complex and to likely behavior of people with AIDS and other
change over time. Second, the specific focus of stigmatized diseases is an essential adjunct to relat-
concern surrounding civil liberties—for example, ed public decision making.
the rights of communists versus those of crooks—
may predominantly affect their support among Finally, the degree to which minor adjustment
citizens. Continual exercise of pertinent sociologi- may ultimately weaken the fabric of civil liberties is
cal research tools is required to maintain aware- a necessary direction for research. Etzioni puts
ness of civil liberties-related attitudes and trends; aside the notion that minor modification may
associated theories appear in periodic need of initiate a slide down the ‘‘slippery slope’’ toward
reconstruction. government or communitarian domination by cit-
ing the innocuous nature of procedures such as
There is good evidence that sociological think- child fingerprinting. But systematic examination
ing and research techniques can promote under- of many seemingly small adjustments may indicate
standing of the consequences of public decisions that some indeed result in cascades of increasingly
regarding civil liberties and help balance civil liber- pernicious modifications. Study of the conditions
ties and community needs. Etzioni’s critique in- under which the minor modification of traditions
cludes a recommendation for ‘‘limited adjustment’’ has in fact led to their eventual collapse could form
of civil liberties in the interests of society. Criteria the basis of a relevant theory.
for activation of limited adjustment include a ‘‘clear
and present danger’’ of sufficient gravity to ‘‘en- REFERENCES
danger large numbers of lives, if not the very
existence of our society,’’ and a ‘‘direct link be- Adorno, Theodore W. et al. 1950 The Authoritarian
tween cause and effect.’’ As illustrations, Etzioni Personality. New York: Harper.
cites nuclear weapons, crack cocaine, and AIDS.
He recommends minimal interference with consti- Etzioni, Amitai 1991 ‘‘Too Many Rights, Too Few Re-
tutional rights, seeking remedies whenever possi- sponsibilities.’’ Society 28:41–48.
ble that do not actually involve civil liberties.
Lipset, Seymour M. 1981 Political Man. New York:
Even the most measured approach to ‘‘adjust- Doubleday.
ment’’ of civil liberties, though, raises issues for
social theory and research. Designation of ‘‘clear McGarrell, E.F., and T. Flanagan (eds.) 1985 Sourcebook
and present danger’’ is as much a social fact as one of Criminal Justice Statistics—1984. Washington, D.C.:
of nuclear physics, pharmacology, and epidemiology. Department of Justice.
Civil libertarians may justifiably ask what makes
crack cocaine a potential threat to society while Parisi, Nicolette et al. (eds) 1979 Sourcebook of Criminal
other narcotics, while causing significant human Justice Statistics—1978. Washington, D.C.: Depart-
misery, have not brought society down. Similar ment of Justice.
issues may be raised regarding AIDS, a biologically
less-contagious disease than the traditional scourges Schuman, Howard, Lawrence Bobo, and Maria Krysan
1992 ‘‘Authoritarianism in the General Population:
The Education Interaction Hypothesis.’’ Social Psy-
chology Quarterly 55:379–387.

Shaw, Greg M. et al. 1998 ‘‘Crime, the Police and Civil
Liberties.’’ Public Opinion Quarterly 62:405–426.

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Siegel, Fred 1991 ‘‘Individualism, Etatism, and the inner-city communities. Wilson argues that eco-
ACLU.’’ Society 28:20–22. nomic forces, including the exodus of major in-
dustries, have more to do with the social problems
Stouffer, Samuel A. 1955 Communism, Conformity, and of the inner city than do race-based feelings and
Civil Liberties. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. actions. On the other hand, Omi and Winant
(1986) assert the independence of race from class
Whitfield, Emily, and Amy Weil 1998 The Year in Civil and resist the reduction of race to class forces.
Liberties: 1998. New York: American Civil Liber- They claim that the United States is organized
ties Union. along racial lines from top to bottom and that race
is a more primary category than class.
HOWARD P. GREENWALD
For most Marxist sociologists of race relations,
CIVIL RIGHTS class and race cannot be treated as separate dimen-
sions of inequality that somehow intersect. Rather,
See Protest Movements; Student Movements. they argue that race and class are both part of the
same system and need to be understood through
CLANS an analysis of the system as a whole. Modern race
relations are seen as distinctive products of the
See Indigenous Peoples. development of world capitalism. Both racism and
capitalism developed together reinforcing one an-
CLASS AND RACE other in a single, exploitative system. The central
question then becomes: How has capitalism, as a
There is considerable debate in the sociology of system based on class exploitation, shaped the
race relations over how social inequality based on phenomena of race and racism?
class and that based on race intertwine or inter-
sect. Are these separate dimensions of inequality CAPITALISM AND RACISM
that simply coexist? Or are they part of the same
reality? Conventional thinking tends to follow the line that
the development of capitalism should eliminate
Efforts to develop an understanding of the racism. People holding this position argue that
relationship between class and race have a long racism is an unfortunate leftover from more tradi-
history in sociology. In the 1930s and 1940s it was tional social systems. Capitalism, based on rational
common to conceptualize the issue as ‘‘caste and criteria such as efficiency, should gradually elimi-
class’’ (Davis, Gardner, and Gardner 1941). Stud- nate the irrational features of the past. The market
ies were conducted in southern towns of the Unit- is ‘‘colorblind,’’ it should only select on the basis of
ed States, and a parallel was drawn between the merit. For example, in the area of job allocation,
southern racial order and the Indian caste system. selecting on the basis of such irrelevant criteria as
Class differentiation was observed within each of skin color or the race of one’s great grandparents,
the two racial ‘‘castes,’’ but a caste line divided would lead those firms that so choose to perform
them, severely limiting the social status of upper- less well than those that select purely on the basis
class African Americans. This view, while descrip- of ability, and they would go out of business. Only
tively illuminating, was challenged by Cox (1948), the rational, colorblind firms would survive and
who saw U.S. race relations as only superficially racism would disappear in the labor market.
similar to caste and based on a very different
dynamic. Unfortunately, this idealized theoretical mod-
el of the way capitalism works has not proved true
The relationship between class and race re- in practice. We continue to live in a highly segre-
mains hotly debated today. Wilson (1980, 1987) gated society, with a continuing racial division of
has argued that class has superceded race as a labor, and with a high degree of racial inequality
factor in the continuing disadvantage of black on every social and economic dimension. White
families, on average, control much higher levels of
wealth than African-American families, for exam-
ple (Oliver and Shapiro 1995). The continuation

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of racism within advanced capitalist societies re- has no basis in fact, and racial categorization has
quires further explanation. been completely discredited. Nevertheless, the idea
of race, and its use in structuring societies along
Whereas cultural differences have served as a hierarchical lines, remains exceedingly robust. In
basis for intergroup conflicts for the entire history sum, race is strictly a social construction, but one
of humanity, the expansion of Europe, starting in with profound implications for the way society is
the sixteenth century, set the stage for a new form organized.
of intergroup relations. Never before was con-
quest so widespread and thorough. Nor was it ever European domination took multiple forms,
associated with such a total ideology of biological from unequal treaties, unfair trade relations, con-
and cultural inferiority. Modern racism, with its quest, and the establishment of alien rule to anni-
peudoscientific claims of inferiority, is a unique hilation and white settlement in places where once
phenomenon. other peoples had thrived. Imperialism received
ideological justification in beliefs that non-Euro-
An understanding of European expansion, pean cultures were primitive, uncivilized, barbar-
and its impact on people of color, begins with an ic, and savage, and their religions were pagan and
analysis of capitalism as it developed in Europe. superstitious. Europeans were convinced that they
Capitalism is a system that depends on the private had the true religion in Christianity and that all
ownership of productive property. In order to other peoples needed to be ‘‘saved.’’ The denigration
earn profits on property, the owners depend on of other cultures was accompanied by beliefs in
the existence of a nonowning class that has no natural, biological inferiority. Dark skin color was
alternative but to sell its labor-power to the own- a mark of such inferiority, while white skin was
ers. The owners accumulate wealth through profit, viewed as more highly evolved. Africans, in par-
that is, the surplus they extract from labor. Hence, ticular, were seen as closer to the apes. These kinds
a class struggle develops between capitalists and of ideas received pseudoscientific support in the
workers over the rights of capitalists to the surplus. form of studies of cranial capacity and culturally
biased intelligence tests (Gould 1981). The totalizing
In Europe, labor came to be ‘‘free,’’ that is, oppression and dehumanization of colonial domi-
people were no longer bound by serfdom or other nation is well captured in Memmi’s The Colonizer
forms of servitude but were free to sell their labor- and the Colonized (1967).
power on an open market to the highest bidder.
Being free in this sense gave European workers a European economic domination had many
certain political capacity, even though they were aspects, but a major feature was the exploitation of
often driven to conditions of poverty and misery. colonized workers. Unlike white labor, which was
free (in the sense of unbound), colonial labor was
Capitalism is an expansionary system. Not typically subjected to various forms of coercion. As
only does it unleash great economic growth, but it conquered peoples, colonized nations could be
also tends to move beyond national boundaries. denied any political rights and were treated openly
The expansionist tendencies lie in a need for new as beings whose sole purpose was to enhance
markets and raw materials, a search for investment white wealth. Throughout the colonial world, vari-
opportunities, and a pursuit of cheaper labor in ous forms of slavery, serfdom, forced migrant
the face of political advances by national labor labor, indentured servitude, and contract labor
forces. European capitalism thus developed into were common.
an imperialistic system (Lenin 1939).
Not only did European imperialists exploit
European imperialism led to a virtually total colonized workers in their homelands, but they
conquest of the globe. Europe carved up the entire also moved many people around to other areas of
world into spheres of influence and colonial domi- the colonial world where they were needed. The
nation. The idea and ideology of race and racism most notorious instance was the African slave
emerged from this cauldron. Europeans construct- trade, under which Africans were brought in bond-
ed a kind of folk-scientific view of human differ- age to the Caribbean area and sections of North
ences, dividing the world’s human population into and South America. However, other examples
semi-species or ‘‘races.’’ Of course, this division

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include the movement of contract workers from The sections of the world with the worst racial
China and India all over the colonial world. Brit- conflicts are the ‘‘white settler colonies.’’ In the
ain, as the chief imperialist power, moved Indians British Empire, these include the United States,
to southern Africa, Fiji, Trinidad, Mauritius, and South Africa, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia), Canada, Aus-
other places to serve as laborers in remote areas of tralia, and New Zealand. These societies estab-
the British Empire. These movements created ‘‘in- lished large white working classes that came into
ternal colonies’’ (Blauner 1972), where workers of conflict with colonial capitalists over the use of
color were again subject to special coercion. coerced labor (Harris 1964).

Even seemingly free immigrants of color have From the point of view of workers of color, the
been subject to special constraints. For example, distinction between white property owners and
Chinese immigrants to the United States in the white workers seems minimal. Although class con-
late nineteenth century were denied naturaliza- flict raged within the white community, people of
tion rights, in contrast to European immigrants, color experienced the effects as a uniform system
and as a result, were subjected to special legal of white domination. All whites appeared to bene-
disabilities. In the United States, Australia, Cana- fit from racism, and all whites appeared to collude
da, and elsewhere, Chinese were singled out for in maintaining segregation, job discrimination,
‘‘exclusion’’ legislation, limiting their access as and the disenfranchisement of people of color. In
free immigrants. this sense, race appears to override class. Never-
theless, it should be recognized that people of
African slavery had the most profound effects color were and are exploited as labor, in order to
on the shaping of racial thought and racial oppres- enhance capitalist profits. Thus their relationship
sion. Even though slavery contradicted the basic to capital includes both race and class elements.
premise of capitalism as based on a free labor Racial oppression intensifies their class oppres-
market, it nevertheless flourished within world sion as workers.
capitalism, and was an essential feature of it. In a
seminal book, Williams (1944; 1966) argued that MIDDLE CLASSES
capitalism could not have developed without slav-
ery, a position elaborated upon by Blackburn So far we have talked only of the relations between
(1997). The coerced labor of African slaves en- white capital, white labor, and colonized labor.
abled the western European nations to accumu- The colonial world was, of course, more complex
late capital and import cheap raw materials that than this. Not only did colonized people have their
served as a basis for industrialization. own middle or upper classes, but sometimes out-
side peoples immigrated or were brought in and
WORKING CLASS DIVISIONS served as indirect rulers of the colonized.

Within the United States, the coexistence of free Middle strata from among the colonized peo-
labor in the North and slavery in the South, proved ples can play a dualistic role in the system. On the
to be disastrous, drawing an especially harsh race one hand, they can help the imperialists exploit
line between blacks and whites. The very concept more effectively. Examples include labor contrac-
of whiteness became associated with the notion of tors, police, or small business owners who make
freedom and free labor, while blacks were seen as use of ethnic ties to exploit members of their own
naturally servile (Roediger 1991). White workers group. In these types of situations, the dominant
divided themselves from blacks (and other racially white group can benefit by having members of the
defined workers), believing that capitalists could colonized population help to control the workers
use coerced and politically disabled workers to primarily for the dominant whites while taking a
undermine their interests. Thus a deep division cut of the surplus for themselves. On the other
emerged in the working class, along racial lines. hand, middle strata can also be the leaders of
The racism of the white working class can be seen nationalist movements to rid their people of the
as a secondary phenomenon, arising from the colonial yoke.
ability of capitalists to engage in the super-exploi-
tation of workers of color. Outside middle strata, sometimes known as
middleman minorities, can be invaluable to the

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CLASS AND RACE

colonial ruling class. As strangers to the colonized, With an increasingly globalized world capital-
they have no ambivalence about the aspirations of ism, these processes have taken an international
the colonized for self-determination. They take dimension. Not only do capitalists take advantage
their cut of profits while not seriously threatening of oppressed groups in their own nation-states,
to take over from the Europeans. Because middle- but they seek them out wherever in the world they
man groups tend to serve as the chief interactors can be found. Such people are, once again, of
with the colonized, they often become a major butt color. Of course, the rise of Japan as a major
of hostility, deflecting the hostility that would capitalist power has changed the complexion of
otherwise be directed at the colonial elite. Thus the ruling capitalist elite, but the oppressed re-
the class and race relations resulting from the main primarily African, Latin American, and Asian.
development of European capitalism and imperi-
alism have been complex and world-shaping. It is common today for people to assume that
racism goes both ways and that everyone is equally
CONTEMPORARY RACE RELATIONS racist, that African Americans have just as much
animosity toward whites as whites have toward
Even though formal colonialism as outright po- blacks. According to this thinking, whites should
litical domination has been successfully challenged not be singled out for special blame because ra-
by national liberation movements, and even though cism against those who are different is a universal
the most oppressive forms of coerced labor have human trait: We are all equally guilty of racism.
been legally banned in most of the world, This view denies the importance of the history
neocolonialism and racial oppression continue in described above. To the extent that peoples of
various guises. color are antiwhite, it is a reaction to a long history
of abuse. Claiming that the antiwhite sentiments
For example, African Americans in the United of blacks are equally racist and on the same level as
States remain a relatively disenfranchised and im- white racism is an attempt to negate the responsi-
poverished population. Although illegal, racial dis- bility of Europeans and their descendents for a
crimination persists in everyday practice, and rac- system of domination that has tried to crush many
ist ideology and attitudes pervade the society. peoples.
Many whites continue to believe that blacks are
innately inferior and object to social integration in At the foundation of the problem of race and
the schools or through intermarriage. African class lies the value system of capitalism, which
Americans are almost totally absent from posi- asserts that pursuit of self-interest in a competitive
tions of power in any of the major political, eco- marketplace will lead to social enhancement for all
nomic, and social institutions of the society. Mean- and that therefore the social welfare need not be
while, they suffer from every imaginable social attended to directly. This assumption is patently
deprivation in such areas as housing, health care, untrue. The United States, perhaps the worst of-
and education. fender, has let this social philosophy run amok,
resulting in the creation of a vast chasm between
The capitalist system maintains racism in part excessive wealth and grinding poverty, both heavi-
because racially oppressed populations are profit- ly correlated with color. Without severe interven-
able. Racial oppression is a mechanism for obtain- tion in ‘‘free market’’ processes, the United States
ing cheap labor. It allows private owners of capital is heading toward increased racial polarization
to reduce labor costs and increase their share of and even possible violence.
the surplus derived from social production. This is
very evident in Southern California today, where Movements for social change need to address
the large, immigrant Latino population provides racial oppression and disadvantage directly. Chang-
virtually all the hard labor at exceptionally low ing the system of capitalist exploitation will not
wages. Their political status as noncitizens, a typi- eliminate racism, since the power and resources
cal feature of racist social systems, makes them available to white workers are so much greater
especially vulnerable to the dehumanization of than those of workers of color. The whole system
sweatshops and other forms of super-exploitation. of inequality based on appropriation of surplus
wealth by a few, mainly white, private property

322

CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY

owners needs to be challenged, along with its CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY
racial aspects. Major redistribution, based on ra-
cial disadvantage, would be required. Neither class- Clinical sociology is a humanistic, multidisciplinary
based nor racial inequality can be attacked alone. specialization that seeks to improve the quality of
They are linked with each other and must be people’s lives. Clinical sociologists assess situa-
overthrown together. tions and reduce problems through analysis and
intervention. Clinical analysis is the critical assess-
REFERENCES ment of beliefs, policies, and/or practices with an
interest in improving a situation. Intervention, the
Blackburn, Robin 1997 The Making of New World Slavery: creation of new systems as well as the change of
From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492–1800. Lon- existing systems, is based on continuing analysis.
don: Verso.
Clinical sociologists have different areas of
Blauner, Robert 1972 Racial Oppression in America. New expertise—such as health promotion, sustainable
York: Harper and Row. communities, social conflict, or cultural compe-
tence—and work in many capacities. They are, for
Cox, Oliver Cromwell 1948 Caste, Class, and Race. New example, community organizers, sociotherapists,
York: Modern Reader. mediators, focus group facilitators, social policy
implementers, action researchers, and administra-
Davis, Alliso, Burleigh B. Gardner, and Mary R. Gardner tors. Many clinical sociologists are full-time or
1941 Deep South. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. part-time university professors, and these clinical
sociologists undertake intervention work in addi-
Gould, Stephen Jay 1981 The Mismeasure of Man. New tion to their teaching and research.
York: W.W. Norton.
The role of the clinical sociologist can be at
Harris, Marvin 1964 Patterns of Race in the Americas. New one or more levels of focus from the individual to
York: Walker. the intersocietal. Even though the clinical sociolo-
gist specializes in one or two levels of intervention
Lenin, V. I. 1939 Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capital- (e.g., marriage counseling, community consult-
ism. New York: International. ing), the practitioner will move among a number
of levels (e.g., individual, organization, communi-
Memmi, Albert 1967 The Colonizer and the Colonized. ty) in order to analyze or intervene or both.
Boston: Beacon Press.
THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN CLINICAL
Oliver, Melvin L., and Thomas M. Shapiro 1985 Black SOCIOLOGY
Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial
Inequality. New York: Routledge. When sociology emerged as a discipline in the
1890s, the nation was struggling with issues of
Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant 1986 Racial Forma- democracy and social justice. There was rural and
tion in the United States. New York: Routledge and urban poverty, women were still without the vote,
Kegan Paul. and there were lynchings. Farmers and workers in
the late 1800s were frustrated because they could
Roediger, David R. 1991 The Wages of Whiteness: Race see the centralization of economic and political
and the Making of the American Working Class. Lon- power in the hands of limited groups of people.
don: Verso. This kind of frustration led to public protests and
the development of reform organizations. In this
Williams, Eric 1966 Capitalism and Slavery. New York: climate, it is not surprising that many of the early
Capricorn. sociologists were scholar-practitioners interested
in reducing or solving the pressing social problems
Wilson, William J. 1987 The Truly Disadvantaged: The that confronted their communities.
Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press. The First University Courses . While many of
the early sociologists were interested in practice,
——— 1980 The Declining Significance of Race: Blacks and
Changing American Institutions. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.

EDNA BONACICH

CLASSIFICATION

See Tabular Analysis; Typologies.

323

CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY

the earliest known proposal using the words ‘‘clini- in the spring of 1930. Wirth was unable to teach
cal sociology’’ was by Milton C. Winternitz (1885– the course because he accepted a one-year Social
1959), a physician who was dean of the Yale School Science Research Council Fellowship to work in
of Medicine from 1920 through 1935. At least as Europe. The course was taught in his absence, but
early as 1929, Winternitz began developing a plan the university’s course information does not iden-
to establish a department of clinical sociology tify the professor who took Wirth’s place.
within Yale’s medical school. Winternitz wanted
each medical student to have a chance to analyze When Wirth returned to the United States in
cases based on a medical specialty as well as a 1931, he joined the faculty of the University of
specialty in clinical sociology. Chicago. In the spring of 1932 he taught a ‘‘mi-
nor’’ course in clinical sociology but by then he no
Winternitz vigorously sought financial sup- longer was working with child guidance clinics.
port for his proposal from the Rosenwald Fund,
but he was unable to obtain the necessary funds New York University also offered clinical soci-
for a department of clinical sociology. He did ology courses in the early 1930s. Harvey Warren
note, however, the success of a course in the Zorbaugh (1896–1965) was a faculty member there
medical school’s section on public health that was in the School of Education which provided under-
based on the clinical sociology plan. graduate and graduate preparation for visiting
teachers, educational counselors, clinicians, social
The first course using the words ‘‘clinical soci- workers, and school guidance administrators. The
ology’’ in the title was taught by Ernest W. Burgess major focus of the program was the solution of
(1886–1966) at the University of Chicago. Burgess educational problems and other social dilemmas.
taught the course in 1928 and then offered it twice
in 1929. During these years, the course was consid- Zorbaugh, along with Agnes Conklin, offered
ered to be a ‘‘special’’ course and did not appear in ‘‘Seminar in Clinical Practice’’ in 1930. The course
the university’s catalog. Burgess offered the clini- was intended to qualify students as counselors or
cal sociology course, as a regular course, five times advisers to deal with behavioral difficulties in
from 1931 through 1933. The course continued to schools. From 1931 through 1933 the clinical prac-
be listed in the catalog for the next several years tice course was called ‘‘Seminar in Clinical Sociolo-
but was not taught after 1933. gy.’’ The course was one of the highest numbered
courses in educational sociology and was offered
The University of Chicago catalogs did not both terms of each year. The course was open to
include a description of the clincal sociology course, graduate students who were writing theses or en-
but the course always was listed under the social gaged in research projects in the fields of educa-
pathology grouping. All courses in this section tional guidance and social work.
dealt with topics such as criminality, punishment,
criminal law, organized crime, and personal disor- Zorbaugh, author of The Gold Coast and the
ganization. Several of the students enrolled in Slum: A Sociological Study of Chicago’s Near North
these first clinical sociology courses were placed in Side, had been involved with clinics at least since
child guidance clinics. Clarence E. Glick, for in- 1924. That was the year Zorbaugh and Clifford
stance, was the staff sociologist at Chicago’s Lower Shaw organized two sociological clinics in Chica-
North Side Child Guidance Clinic and Leonard go—the Lower North and South Side Child Guid-
Cottrell was the clinical sociologist at the South ance Clinics. Zorbaugh was associate director of
Side Child Guidance Clinic. the Lower North Side Child Guidance Clinic in 1925.

Two other universities offered clinical courses Zorbaugh was a founder, in 1928, of the Clinic
in the l930s—Tulane University in Louisiana and for the Social Adjustment of the Gifted at New
New York University. The Tulane University course York University. He was director of this clinic at its
was designed to give students the opportunity to inception and was actively involved in its work for
learn about behavior problems and social therapy over fifteen years. The clinic was for intellectually
by conferences and fieldwork in a child guidance gifted and talented preadolescents. The clinic gave
clinic. Louis Wirth (1897–1952), a full-time faculty graduate students the opportunity to have super-
member and director of the New Orleans Child vised experiences in teaching, clinical diagnosing
Guidance Clinic, was scheduled to teach the course and treating of children with behavioral problems.

324

CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY

During the 1953–54 academic year, Alvin W. as dean was filed. One of Winternitz’s (1932) most
Gouldner (1920–1980) was teaching in the Depart- forceful statements in support of the field was the
ment of Sociology and Anthropology at Antioch contemporary-sounding statement that appeared
College in Ohio. Before joining the faculty, Gouldner in his 1930–1931 annual report:
had been a university teacher for four years and
then worked, for one year, as a consultant to The field for clinical sociology does not seem by
Standard Oil of New Jersey. any means to be confined to medicine. Within
the year it has become more and more evident
Gouldner offered ‘‘Foundations of Clinical that a similar development may well be the
Sociology’’ at Antioch. The course was taught at means of bringing about aid so sorely needed
the highest undergraduate level, and students who to change the basis of court action in relation
enrolled in the course were expected to have to crime. . .
completed the department’s course in social pa-
thology. The college bulletin provided the follow- Not only in medicine and in law, but
ing description of the course: probably in many other fields of activity, the
broad preparation of the clinical sociologist is
A sociological counterpart to clinical psycholo- essential. . .
gy with the group as the unit of diagnosis and
therapy. Emphasis on developing skills useful The first discussion of clinical sociology by a
in the diagnosis and therapy of group sociologist was Louis Wirth’s 1931 article, ‘‘Clini-
tenstions. Principles of functional analysis, cal Sociology,’’ in The American Journal of Sociology.
group dynamics, and organizational and small Wirth wrote at length about the possibility of
group analysis examined and applied to case sociologists working in child development clinics,
histories. Representative research in the area though he did not specifically mention his own
assessed. clinical work in New Orleans. Wirth wrote ‘‘it may
not be an exaggeration of the facts to speak of the
The term ‘‘clinical sociology’’ first appears in genesis of a new division of sociology in the form
print . The first known published linking of the of clinical sociology’’ (Wirth 1930).
words clinical and sociology was in 1930 when Mil-
ton C. Winternitz, a pathologist and dean of the In 1931, Wirth also wrote a career develop-
Yale Medical School, wanted to establish a depart- ment pamphlet, which stated:
ment of clinical sociology. After working on the
idea at least as early as 1929, he wrote about it in a The various activities that have grown up
report to the president of the Yale Medical School around child-guidance clinics, penal and
and the report was published in the 1930 Yale correctional institutions, the courts, police
University Bulletin. That same year saw the publi- systems, and similar facilities designed to deal
cation of a speech Winternitz had given at the with problems of misconduct have increasingly
dedication of the University of Chicago’s new turned to sociologists to become members of
social science building. The speech also mentioned their professional staffs (Wirth 1931).
clinical sociology.
Wirth ‘‘urged (sociology students) to become
Abraham Flexner, a prominent critic of medi- specialists in one of the major divisions of sociolo-
cal education and director of the Institute for gy, such as social psychology, urban sociology. . .
Advanced Study at Princeton, mentioned clinical or clinical sociology’’ (Wirth 1931).
sociology in 1930 in his Universities: American,
English, German. Flexner did not approve of the In 1931, Saul Alinsky was a University of Chi-
Institute of Human Relations that Winternitz was cago student who was enrolled in Burgess’s clinical
establishing at Yale. In the pages of criticism devoted sociology course. Three years later, Alinsky’s arti-
to the institute, Flexner briefly mentioned clinical cle, ‘‘A Sociological Technique in Clinical Crimi-
sociology: ‘‘Only one apparent novelty is proposed: nology,’’ appeared in the Proceedings of the Sixty-
a professor of clinical sociology’’ (Flexner 1930). Fourth Annual Congress of the American Prison Asso-
ciation. Alinsky, best known now for his work in
Winternitz continued to write about the value community organizing, was, in 1934, a staff soci-
of clinical sociology until 1936 when his last report ologist and member of the classification board of
the Illinois State Penitentiary.

325

CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY

In 1944 the first formal definition of clinical clinical sociology. The association helped make
sociology appeared in H.P. Fairchild’s Dictionary of available the world’s most extensive collection of
Sociology. Alfred McClung Lee, the author of that teaching, research, and intervention literature un-
definition, was known as one of the founders of der the label of clinical sociology and it introduced
the Society for the Study of Social Problems, the the only clinical sociology certification process.
Association for Humanist Sociology, and the So-
ciological Practice Association. Lee later used the The Sociological Practice Association’s rigor-
word ‘‘clinical’’ in the title of two articles—his ous certification process for clinical sociologists is
1945 ‘‘Analysis of Propaganda: A Clinical Summa- available at the Ph.D. and M.A. levels. The Ph.D.-
ry’’ and the 1955 article ‘‘The Clinical Study of level process was adopted in l983 and certification
Society.’’ was first awarded in 1984. The association began
to offer M.A.-level certification in 1986. Successful
Also appearing in 1944 was Edward McDonagh’s candidates at both the doctoral and master’s level
‘‘An Approach to Clinical Sociology.’’ McDonagh are awarded the same designation—C.C.S. (Certi-
had read Lee’s definition of clinical sociology but fied Clinical Sociologist).
had not seen Wirth’s 1931 article. McDonagh, in
his Sociology and Social Research article, proposed Experienced clinical sociologists are encour-
establishing social research clinics that had ‘‘a aged to apply for certification. which is given for
group way of studying and solving problems’’ intervention work (assessing and changing social
(McDonagh 1944). systems). As part of the application process, a
candidate is required to identify her or his area of
In 1946 George Edmund Haynes’s ‘‘Clinical specialization (e.g., community, family counsel-
Methods in Interracial and Intercultural Relations’’ ing) and level of intervention (e.g., organization,
appeared in The Journal of Educational Sociology. individual). The certification process requires mem-
Haynes was a cofounder of the National Urban bership in the Sociological Practice Association,
League (1910) and the first African American to documentation of appropriate education and su-
hold a U.S. government subcabinet post. His 1946 pervised training, documentation of interdiscipli-
article, written while he was executive secretary of nary training, essays about ethics and theory, and a
the Department of Race Relations at the Federal demonstration before peers and a reviewing
Council of the Churches of Christ in America, committee.
discussed the department’s urban clinics. The clin-
ics were designed to deal with interracial tensions The Sociological Practice Association, along
and conflicts by developing limited, concrete pro- with the Society for Applied Sociology, also has
grams of action. put in place a Commission on Applied and Clinical
Sociology. The commission has set standards for
Contemporary contributions . While publica- the accreditation of clinical and applied sociology
tions mentioning clinical sociology appeared at programs at the baccalaureate level and intends to
least every few years after the 1930s, the number of do the same for graduate programs.
publications increased substantially after the found-
ing of the Clinical Sociology Association in 1978. CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY AND
The association, now called the Sociological Prac- SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE
tice Association, made publications a high priori-
ty. Individuals were encouraged to publish and The practical sociology of the l890s and early
identify their work as clinical sociology, and the 1900s is now referred to as sociological practice.
association established publication possibilities for This general term sociological practice involves two
its members. The Clinical Sociology Review and the areas, clinical sociology and applied sociology.
theme journal Sociological Practice were published Clinical sociology emphasizes hands-on interven-
by the association beginning in the early 1980s. tion while applied sociology emphasizes research
These annual journals were replaced in the 1990’s for practical purposes. Both specialties require
by Sociological Practice: A Journal of Clinical and different kinds of specialized training.
Applied Sociology, a quarterly publication.
Some sociological practitioners are ‘‘clinical’’
The Sociological Practice Association has had in that they only or primarily do intervention
a central role in the development of American

326

CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY

work; others are ‘‘applied’’ in that they only or detailed, in-depth information about a person,
primarily conduct research that is of practical place, event, or group. This methodological ap-
interest. Some practitioners do both. Clinical soci- proach involves many data-gathering techniques
ologists, for instance, may conduct research be- such as document analysis, life histories, in-depth
fore beginning an intervention project to assess interviews, and participant observation.
the existing state of affairs, during an intervention
(e.g., to study the process of adaptation), and/or Clinical sociologists who have been in the field
after the completion of the intervention to evalu- for ten or twenty years probably learned about
ate the outcome of that intervention. For some intervention strategies primarily through courses
clinical sociologists, the research activity is an im- and workshops given outside of sociology depart-
portant part of their own clinical work. These ments as well as through their work and communi-
sociologists have appropriate research training ty experiences. Clinical sociologists who have more
and look for opportunities to conduct research. recently entered the field also may have learned
Other clinical sociologists prefer to concentrate intervention techniques as part of their sociology
on the interventions and leave any research to programs. These sociology programs might in-
other team members. Those clinical sociologists clude courses, for instance, on focus groups, me-
who decide not to engage in research may have diation, or administration, as well as require super-
research skills but prefer to conduct interventions, vised residencies or internships.
may not have enough expertise in the conduct of
research, or may know that other team members CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY IN
have more expertise in research. INTERNATIONAL SETTINGS

THEORIES, METHODS, AND Clinical sociology is as old as the field of sociology
INTERVENTION STRATEGIES and its roots are found in many parts of the world.
The clinical sociology specialization, for instance,
Clinical sociologists are expected to have educa- often is traced back to the fourteenth-century
tion and training in at least one area in addition to work of the Arab scholar and statesperson Abd-al-
sociology. This means that not only are clinical Rahman ibn Khaldun (1332–1406). Ibn Khaldun
sociologists exposed to the range of theories (e.g., provided numerous clinical observations based on
symbolic interaction, structural-functionalism, con- his varied work experiences such as Secretary of
flict, social exchange) and quantitative and qualita- State to the rule of Morocco and Chief Judge
tive research methods generally taught in sociolo- of Egypt.
gy programs, but they also have additional influences
from outside of their own programs. The result is Auguste Comte (1798–1857) and Emile
that clinical sociologists integrate and use a broad Durkheim (1858–1917) are among those whose
range of theoretical and methodological approaches. work frequently is mentioned as precursors to the
field. Comte, the French scholar who coined the
Clinical sociologists use existing theory to for- term ‘‘sociology’’, believed that the scientific study
mulate models that will be helpful in identifying of societies would provide the basis for social
and understanding problems and also to identify action. Emile Durkheim’s work on the relation
strategies to reduce or solve these problems. Clini- between levels of influence (e.g., social compared
cal sociologists also have shown that practice can to individual factors) led Alvin Gouldner (1965,
have an influence on existing theories and help in p.19) to write that ‘‘more than any other classical
the development of new ones. sociologist (he) used a clinical model.’’

While clinical sociologists use a wide variety of Interest in clinical sociology has been growing
research methods and techniques (e.g., participa- in a number of countries. For example, French is
tory action research, geographic information sys- the predominant language of many, if not most, of
tems, focus group analysis, surveys), they probably the current international clinical sociology confer-
are best known for their case studies. Case studies ences, and books and articles have appeared with
involve systematically assembling and analyzing clinical sociology in the title in France and French-
speaking Canada. The French-language clinical

327

CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY

sociologists emphasize clinical analysis. They have REFERENCES
a solid international network and have done an
excellent job of attracting nonsociologists to that Bruhn, John G., and Howard M. Rebach 1996 Clinical
network. Their literature is substantial. Particular- Sociology: An Agenda for Action. New York: Plenum.
ly notable is the work of Jacques van Bockstaele
and Maria van Bockstaele; Robert Sevigny, Eugene Clark, Elizabeth J., Jan Marie Fritz, and P.P. Rieker (eds.)
Enriquez, Vincent de Gaulejac, and Jacques Rheaume. 1990 Clinical Sociological Perspectives on Illness & Loss:
The Linkage of Theory and Practice. Philadelphia: The
Beginning in the mid-1990’s, Italians hosted Charles Press.
clinical sociology conferences, published clinical
sociology books and articles and ran numerous Enriquez, Eugene 1997 ‘‘The Clinical Approach: Gene-
clinical sociology training workshops. If one is sis and Development in Western Europe.’’ Interna-
interested in learning about clinical sociology in tional Sociology. 12/2(June):151–164.
Italy, one would want to review the work of
Michelina Tosi, Francesco Battisti, and Lucio ——— 1992 ‘‘Remarques Terminales Vers une Sociologie
Luison. Luison’s 1998 book, Introduczione alla Clinique d’Inspiration Psychanalytique.’’ L’Organisation
Sociologia clinica (Introduction to Clinical Sociolo- en Analyse. Fevrier. Paris: P.U.F.
gy), contains thirteen articles written by Ameri-
cans. One is an original article written for the ———, Gilles Houle, Jacques Rheaume, and Robert
volume but all the others are translations of arti- Sevigny (eds.) 1993 L’Analyse Clinique dans les Sciences
cles that appeared in the Sociological Practice Humaines. Montreal: Editions Saint-Martin.
Association’s Clinical Sociology Review or Sociologi-
cal Practice. The volume concludes with the Socio- Fritz, Jan Marie (ed.) 1996 The Clinical Sociology Resource
logical Practice Association’s code of ethics. Book. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: American Sociologi-
cal Association Teaching Resources Center and the
Clinical sociology also is found in other parts Sociological Practice Association.
of the world. Of particular interest would be devel-
opments in Greece, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Fritz, Jan Marie 1991a ‘‘The History of American Clini-
South Africa. In South Africa, for instance, one cal Sociology: The First Courses.’’ Clinical Sociology
university’s sociology department has put a socio- Review 9:5–26.
logical clinic in place and another sociology de-
partment has developed a graduate specialization Fritz, Jan Marie 1991b ‘‘The Emergence of American
in counseling. Clinical Sociology.’’ Pp. 17–32 In H. Rebach and J.
Bruhn, eds., Handbook of Clinical Sociology. New
The international development of clinical so- York: Plenum.
ciology has been supported primarily by two or-
ganizations. The clinical sociology division of the Fritz, Jan Marie1985 The Clinical Sociology Handbook.
International Sociological Association (ISA) was New York: Garland.
organized in 1982 at the ISA World Congress in
Mexico City. The other major influence is the Gaulejac, Vincent de and Shirley Roy (ed.), 1993 Sociologies
clinical sociology section of the Association Cliniques. Paris: Hommes et Perspectives.
internationale des Sociologues de Langue Francaise
(International Association of French Language Giorgino, Enzo 1998 ‘‘Per un Ridefinizione del Lavoro
Sociologists). Professionale in Sociologia.’’ Sociologia e Professione.
29 (Marzo):8–23.
It is clear that a global clinical sociology is
beginning to emerge. American clinical sociology Glassner, Barry, and Jonathan A. Freedman 1979 Clini-
had a strong role in the early development of the cal Sociology. New York: Longman.
global specialization but now it is only one of many
influences. It will be interesting to see if the thrust Gouldner, Alvin 1965 ‘‘Explorations in Applied Social
of the international field will be as explicitly hu- Science.’’ Social Problems. 3/3(January):169–181. Re-
manistic and intervention-oriented as American printed 1965 in Alvin Gouldner and S.M. Miller, eds.,
clinical sociology. Applied Sociology. 5–22 New York: Free Press.

Luison, Lucio (ed.) 1998 Introduczione alla Sociologia
Clinica: Teorie, Metodi e Tecniche di Intervento. Milano:
FrancoAngeli.

Rebach, Howard M., and John G. Bruhn (eds.), 1991
Handbook of Clinical Sociology. New York: Plenum

Rheaume, Jacques 1997 ‘‘The Project of Clinical Soci-
ology in Quebec.’’ International Sociology. 12/
2(June):165–174.

328

COALITIONS

Sevigny, Robert 1997 ‘‘The Clinical Approach in the actors formed for mutual advantage in contention
Social Sciences.’’ International Sociology. 12/ with other actors in the same social system. In
2(June):135–150. most contemporary theories of coalition forma-
tion, it is taken for granted that the principles
Straus, Roger A. (ed.), 1999 Using Sociology: An Introduc- governing coalition formation are not much af-
tion from the Applied and Clinical Perspectives. Third fected by the size of the actors, who may be small
edition. New York: General Hall. children or large nations, but are significantly
affected by the number of actors in the system. In
Straus, Roger A. (ed.), 1979 ‘‘Special Issue on Clini- the sociological and social-psychological literature,
cal Sociology.’’ The American Behavioral Scientist. interest has focused on coalition formation in
March/April. social systems containing three actors, commonly
known as triads, and on the factors that influence
Tosi, Michelina, and Francesco Battisti (eds.) 1995 the formation of coalitions in that configuration.
Sociologia Clinica e Sistemi Socio-Sanitari: Dalle Premesse Coalitions in triads have certain properties that
Epistemologiche Allo Studio di Casi e Interventi. Milano: are very useful in the analysis of power relation-
FrancoAngeli. ships in and among organizations. Moreover,
tetrads, pentads, and higher-order social systems
van Bockstaele, Jacques, Maria van Bockstaele, Colette can be viewed for analytical purposes as clusters of
Barrot, and Cl. Magny 1963 ‘‘Travaux de Sociologie linked triads. In the literature of political science,
Clinique: Quelques Conditions d’une Intervention the principal topic has been the formation of
de Type Analytique en Sociologie.’’ L’Annee Sociologique. electoral and legislative coalitions in multi-party
Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. and two-party systems.

van Bockstaele, Jacques, Maria van Bockstaele, Colette The social science perspective on coalitions
Barrot, Jacques Malbos, and Pierrette Schein 1968 derives from two major sources: the formal soci-
‘‘Problemes de la Sociologie Clinique: Nouvelles Ob- ology of Georg Simmel (1902) and the n-person
servations sur la Definition de la Socioanalyse.’’ game theory of John Von Neumann and Oskar
L’Annee Sociologique. Paris: Presses Universitaires Morgenstern (1944). Simmel had the fundamental
de France. insight that conflict and cooperation are opposite
sides of the same coin so that no functioning social
Winternitz, Milton Charles 1932 ‘‘Clincal Sociology.’’ In system can be free of internal conflicts or of inter-
Report of the dean of the School of Medicine, Bulle- nal coalitions. Simmel also proposed that the ge-
tin of Yale University. ometry of social relationships is independent of
the size of the actors in a social system but heavily
Wirth, Louis 1931a ‘‘Clinical Sociology.’’ American Jour- influenced by their number; that social systems are
nal of Sociology, 37:49–66. held together by internal differentiation; that rela-
tionships between superiors and subordinates are
——— 1931b Sociology: Vocations for those Interested intrinsically ambivalent; that groups of three tend
in It. Pamphlet.Vocational Guidance Series, No. l. to develop coalitions of two against one; and that,
Chicago: University of Chicago. Louis Wirth Collec- in stable social systems, coalitions shift continually
tion, University of Chicago, Department of Special from one situation to another.
Collections. Box LVI, Folder 6.
While the basic ideas are attributable to Simmel,
JAN MARIE FRITZ the analytical framework for most of the empirical
research on coalitions that has been undertaken so
CLUSTER ANALYSIS far is that of Von Neumann (and his collaborator
Oskar Morgenstern). Any social interaction involv-
See Correlation and Regression Analysis; Factor ing costs and rewards can be described as an n-
Analysis. person game. In two-person games, the problem
for each player is to find a winning strategy, but in
COALITIONS games with three or more players, the formation
of a winning coalition is likely to be the major
Originally a word for union or fusion, the term
coalition came in the eighteenth century to mean a
temporary alliance of political parties. In modern
social science, the meaning has broadened to in-
clude any combination of two or more social

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COALITIONS

strategic objective. The theory distinguishes be- outcomes in games played by small groups—games
tween zero-sum games, in which one side loses that have been devised by the experimenter to test
whatever the other side gains, and non-zero-sum hypotheses about the choice of coalition partners
games with more complex payoff schedules. And and the division of coalition winnings under speci-
it provides a mathematical argument for the equal fied conditions, and (2) observational studies of
division of gains among coalition partners, the gist coalitions in the real world. Stimulated by the
of which is that any essential member of a winning publication of divergent theories of coalition for-
coalition who is offered less than an equal share of mation (Mills 1953; Caplow 1956; Gamson 1961)
the joint winnings can be induced to desert the in the American Sociological Review, coalition ex-
coalition and join an adversary who offers more periments became part of the standard repertory
favorable terms. In the various experimental and of social psychology in the 1960s and continue to
real-life settings in which coalitions are studied, be so to this day (Bottom, Eavey, and Miller 1996).
this solution has only limited application, but game A great deal has been learned about how the
theory continues to furnish the vocabulary of choice of coalition partners and the division of
observation. coalition winnings are affected by variations in
game rules and player attributes. Much, although
Some recent writers identify coaliton theory by no means all, of this work has focused on three-
as that branch of game theory involving zero-sum player games in which the players have unequal
games with more than two players and game theo- resources and any coalition is a winning coalition,
ry as a branch of rational choice theory (Wood and the distribution of resources falling into one of
McLean 1995). The basic assumption of rational three types: (1) A>B>C, A<B+C; (2) A=B, B>C,
choice—by voters, lobbyists, legislators, and man- A<B+C; and (3) A>B, B=C, A<B+C. With respect to
agers—has been vigorously attacked (see Green the choice of coalition partners, the central ques-
and Shapiro 1994) and as strongly defended (Nich- tion has been whether subjects will consistently
olson 1992, among many others). The critics argue choose the partner with whom they can form the
that rational choice theory is essentially self-con- minimum winning coalition, or the stronger part-
tained; its elaborate intellectual apparatus does ner, or the partner who offers the more favorable
not provide a clear view of political action. The terms, or the partner who resembles themselves in
defenders say, in effect, that judgment should be attributes or ideology. The general finding is that
withheld. each of these results can be produced with fair
consistency by varying the rules of the experimen-
Meanwhile, game theory (and its coalition tal game. The division of winnings between coali-
branch) have been developing new ideas, largely tion partners has attracted even more attention
based on the key concept of equilibrium. Equilibri- than the choice of partners. The question has been
um in a game is that condition in which none of the whether winnings will be divided on the principle
players have incentives to deviate from their cho- of equality, as suggested by game theory; or of
sen strategies. It is called Nash equilibrium, after its parity, proportionate to the contribution of each
formulator (Nash 1951), and has been extended to partner, as suggested by exchange theory; or at an
include two interesting varieties: subgame perfect intermediate ratio established by bargaining. Al-
equilibrium and Bayesian equilibrium. The for- though many experimenters have claimed that
mer requires that rational players refrain from one or the other of these principles is primary,
incredible threats. The latter replaces the players’ their collective results seem to show that all three
initial knowledge about payoff schedules with a set modes of division occur spontaneously and that
of probabilistic statements, subject to change by subjects may be tilted one way or another by
additional information. Another interesting inno- appropriate instructions. Additional nuances of
vation is the concept of nested games (Tsebelis coalition formation have been explored in games
1990), in which the apparent irrationality of play- having more than three players, variable payoffs,
ers’ moves in a given game is a rational conse- or incomplete information. Non-zero-sum games
quence of their concurrent involvement in oth- and sequential games with continually changing
er games. weights have been particularly instructive. The
findings readily lend themselves to mathematical
Modern empirical work on coalitions falls into
two major categories: (1) experimental studies of

330

COALITIONS

expression (Kahan and Rapoport 1984; Prasnikar a status order must rely on the routine formation
and Roth 1992). of coalitions of superiors against subordinates and
be able to counter coalitions of subordinates against
The explicit application of coalition analysis to superiors.
real-life situations began with William Riker’s (1962)
study of political coalitions in legislative bodies; he All of these situations are susceptible to coali-
discerned a consistent preference for minimal tions of two against one, which tend to transform
winning coalitions and emphasized the pivotal strength into weakness and weakness into strength.
role of weak factions. Theodore Caplow (1968) Under many conditions, in the first of the triads
showed how the developing theory of coalitions in mentioned above (A>B>C, A<B+C), both A and B
triads could be used to analyze conflict and compe- will prefer C as a coalition partner; his initial
tition in nuclear and extended families, organiza- weakness ensures his inclusion in the winning
tional hierarchies, primate groups, revolutionary coalition. When A>B, B=C, A<B+C, B and C will
movements, international relations, and other con- often prefer each other as coalition partners; A’s
texts. The initial development of observational initial strength ensures his exclusion from the
studies was relatively slow, compared with the winning coalition. When A=B, A>C, C’s initial
proliferation of laboratory studies, but there were weakness again makes him a likely winner. The
some notable achievements, particularly in family first purpose of any hierarchy must be to restrain
dynamics and international relations, where coali- in one way or another the inherent tendency of
tion models fit gracefully into earlier lines of inves- subordinates to combine against superiors. Al-
tigation. Coalition theory was also applied, albeit though force and ritual are often deployed for this
in a more tentative way, to work groups, intra- and purpose, the stability of complex status orders
interorganizational relationships, litigation and depends on certain interactive effects that appear
criminal justice, class and ethnic conflict, and mili- in triads with overlapping membership, called linked
tary strategy. However, the bulk of empirical re- triads. In such clusters, the choice of coalition
search after 1980 was undertaken by political sci- partners in one triad influences the choices made
entists and focused on international relations, with in other triads. The natural rules that seem to
particular emphasis on nuclear deterrence (Powell govern the formation of coalitions in linked hier-
1990) and on the formation of legislative coali- archical triads are that a coalition adversary in one
tions (Laver and Schofield 1990; Shepsle 1991; triad may not be chosen as a coalition partner in
Krebbiel 1991; Cox and McCubbins 1993). Some another triad, and that actors offered a choice
investigators have shifted their focus from coali- between incompatible winning coalitions will
tion formation to coalition breaking (Lupia and choose the one in the higher-ranking triad. The
Strom 1995; Horowitz and Just 1995; Mershon net effect favors conservative coalitions of superi-
1996), which appears to follow a quite different ors against subordinates without entirely suppress-
dynamic. Economists have studied customs un- ing revolutionary coalitions of subordinates against
ions, trading blocs, and other forms of economic superiors.
combination (Burbidge et al. 1995; Yi 1996). But
with a few notable exceptions (e. g. Lemieux 1997), Cross-cutting the coalition preferences that
sociologists have tended to neglect the study of arise from unequal distributions of power and
coalitions since the promising beginnings of the 1970s. resources are preferences based on affinity, com-
patibility, and prior experience with potential part-
Whatever the field of application, the exami- ners. These other bases of coalition formation are
nation of coalitions, especially the simple coalition conspicuous in intimate groups such as the family,
of two against one, provides a key to the social where same-sex coalitions alternate with same-
geometry of innumerable situations involving con- generation coalitions.
flict, competition, and cooperation. In nearly eve-
ry conflict, each of the contending parties seeks The study of coalitions in nuclear families is
the support of relevant third parties, and the side particularly rewarding because the distribution of
that gains that support is likely to prevail. In very power in the triad of mother-father-child changes
many competitive situations, the outcome is even- so dramatically as the child grows, and because
tually decided by the formation of a winning coali- same-sex coalitions are differently valued than
tion. And any system of cooperation that involves

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COALITIONS

cross-sex coalitions. The initial distribution of power Both family dynamics and international rela-
between husband and wife is always transformed tions in peacetime exemplify situations of continu-
by the arrival of children; most cultures encourage ous conflict, wherein relationships have long histo-
certain patterns, such as the Oedipus and Electra ries and are expected to persist indefinitely, and
complexes dear to Freudians: coalitions of mother the opposition of interests is qualified by the ne-
and son against father and of father and daughter cessity for cooperation. The choice of coalition
against mother. Research on the contemporary partners and the division of winnings is strongly
American family suggests that parental coalitions influenced by the past transactions of the parties
are quite durable, both mother-daughter and moth- and by the fact that payoffs are not completely
er-son coalitions against the father are very com- predictable. Continuous conflict triads with A>B>C,
mon, father-daughter coalitions against the moth- A<B+C often alternate the three possible coali-
er much less so, and father-son coalitions against tions according to circumstances: the conservative
the mother comparatively rare. Sibling coalitions coalition AB reinforces the existing status order;
are most likely among same-sex siblings adjacent the revolutionary coalition BC challenges it; and the
in age. Sibling aggression is endemic in families of improper coalition AC subverts it.
this type, especially in the presence of parents. An
interesting study by Richard Felson and Natalie Episodic conflicts, by contrast, involve dis-
Russo (1988) suggests that parents usually take crete zero-sum games played under strict rules.
side with the weaker child in these incidents, and The passage of any measure in a legislative body
this leads to more frequent aggression by the necessarily involves the formation of a coalition.
excluded child. There are very few family conflicts Even when one party has a solid majority, its
that cannot be instructively described by a coali- members will seldom be in complete agreement
tion model. on an issue. The formation of a coalition for the
passage of a specific measure usually involves hard
The application of coalition theory to interna- bargaining and payoffs negotiated in advance.
tional relations was particularly rewarding with Under these conditions, the tendency to minimize
respect to the ‘‘strategic triangle’’ of the United costs by forming the minimal winning coalitions is
States, China, and the Soviet Union during the very strong. When A>B>C, A<B+C, a BC coalition
Cold War era of 1950–1985. In one of the many is highly probable. Empirical studies of legislative
studies that have examined the internal dynamics voting bear this out, although more than minimal
of this triad, James Hsiung (1987) concluded that coalitions also occur, for various reasons.
China as the weak player in this triad benefitted
much more than either of the superpowers from The resolution of disputes by civil and crimi-
the various coalitional shifts that occurred over nal litigation is another variety of episodic conflict
time, as would be theoretically expected in a triad that can be studied as a coalition process. Donald
of this type (A=B, B>C, A<B+C). A study by Caplow Black (1989) explored the triad of judge and court-
(1989) explained the failure of peace planning in room adversaries and discovered a clear tendency
1815, 1919, and 1945, by showing how efforts to for judges to favor the litigant to whom they are
put an end to the international war system were socially closer, ordinarily the litigant of higher
undermined by the formation of coalitions to status—a tacit conservative coalition. But in forms
prevent the domination of the peacekeeping or- of dispute resolution where the third party is less
ganization by the strongest of the victorious pow- authoritative, the weaker adversary may be fa-
ers. Many older studies of international balances vored. Marital counselors, for example, often side
of power visualize international relations as a game with wives against husbands, and ombudsmen and
in which the first priority of every major player is other relatively powerless mediators normally in-
to block the domination of the entire system by cline toward the weaker party.
any other player. Frank C. Zagare’s (1984) analysis
of the Geneva Conference on Vietnam in 1954 as a In terminal conflicts, the object is the perma-
three-player game compared the preference sched- nent destruction of adversaries, and the formation
ules of the three players and showed how they of coalitions is a delicate matter. In the triad where
combined to produce the unexpected outcome of A>B>C, A<B+C, a successful BC coalition that
the negotiations. destroys A leaves C at the mercy of B. Indeed, any
winning coalition is hazardous for the weaker

332

COALITIONS

partner. A fragile peace can be maintained if observational, have developed unevenly. The theo-
A>B>C and A=B+C; the BC coalition forms as a ries are elaborate and elegant. The experimental
matter of course, creating what is known as a studies have explored nearly every possibility sug-
balance of power. This has been the key configura- gested by the theories, run down every lead, ma-
tion in European affairs for the past several centu- nipulated every variable. But in sociology, as dis-
ries. The balance breaks down with any significant tinct from political science and economics, the
shift in the relative power of the parties; for exam- observational studies have scarcely tapped the rich
ple, if A grows stronger than the BC coalition, it possibilities suggested by the available theories.
will be tempted to conquer them. If B becomes The most important work remains to be done.
equal to A, an AB coalition may be tempted to
attack and partition C. If C grows stronger and the (SEE ALSO: Decision-Making Theory and Research)
triad assumes the form A>B, B=C, B+C>A, the
formation of a BC coalition to overthrow A is REFERENCES
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COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY
Murnighan, J. Keith 1978 ‘‘Models of Coalition Behav- THEORIES
ior: Game Theoretic, Social Psychological, and Politi-
cal Perspectives.’’ Psychological Bulletin 85:1130–1153. Cognitive consistency theories have their origins
in the principles of Gestalt psychology, which
Nail, Paul, and Steven G. Cole 1985 ‘‘Three Theories of suggests that people seek to perceive the environ-
Coalition Behavior: A Probabilistic Extension.’’ Brit- ment in ways that are simple and coherent (Köhler
ish Journal of Social Psychology 24:181–190. 1929). Cognitive consistency theories have their
beginnings in a number of seemingly unrelated
Nash, John 1951 ‘‘Non-cooperative games.’’ Annals of research areas (Eagly and Chaiken 1993). Early
Mathematics 54:286–95. consistency theorists drew upon theories of con-
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fairness and strategy: Experimental evidence from consistency theories. He points to a truism that in
sequential games.’’ Quarterly Journal of Economics any field of scientific inquiry, there is an inevitable
107:865–868. movement from description of the elements of the
field, to understanding the relationships between
Riker, William H. 1962 The Theory of Political Coalitions. them. At the heart of cognitive consistency theo-
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. ries is the assumption that people are motivated to
seek coherent attitudes, thoughts, beliefs, values,
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, and Vaida D. Thompson 1986 behaviors, and feelings. If these are inconsistent,
‘‘Towards a General Framework of Family Structure: they will produce a ‘‘tension state’’ in the individu-
A Review of Theory-Based Empirical Research.’’ Popu- al, and motivate the individual to reduce this
lation and Environment 8:143–171. tension. Individuals reduce this tension, according

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334

COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY THEORIES

to consistency theories, by making their relevant This chapter will discuss five major theories of
cognitions consistent. cognitive consistency that have had the most im-
pact on the behavioral sciences. They are (in no
Cognitive consistency theories gained tremen- particular order) balance theory (Heider 1946,
dous popularity in the social sciences in the 1950s, 1958), strain toward symmetry (Newcomb 1953,
and generated hundreds of studies. Toward the 1968b), congruency theory (Osgood and Tannen-
end of the 1960s, however, research interest waned. baum 1955), affective-cognitive consistency model
In 1968, Abelson and collegues published a mas- (Rosenberg 1956), and finally, what Eagly and
sive handbook, entitled Theories of Cognitive Consis- Chaiken (1993) refer to as the ‘‘jewel in the consis-
tency: A Sourcebook. The book was a thorough tency family crown,’’ (p. 456) cognitive dissonance
chronicle of cognitive consistency theories, and it theory (Festinger 1957).
addressed these theories from virtually any angle
the reader could imagine. Ironically, the scholarly BALANCE THEORY
detail in which the editors and authors carefully
described their research seemed to have been the The earliest consistency theory is Heider’s balance
death knell of cognitive consistency theories. Vir- theory (1946, 1958). This approach is concerned
tually no research on cognitive consistency theo- with an individual’s perceptions of the relation-
ries took place during the 1970s. ships between himself (p) and (typically) two other
elements in a triadic structure. In Heider’s formu-
With the end of the 1960s, theories of behav- lation, the other elements are often another per-
ior that centered around motivational and affec- son (o) and another object (e.g., an issue, object, a
tive forces (which certainly described cognitive value). The attitudes in the structure are designat-
consistency theories) were ‘‘out of vogue’’ with ed as either positive or negative. The goal of
researchers. Many point to the simultaneous rise assessing the structure of a triad is to ascertain
of social cognition approaches in general, and whether the relationships (attitudes) between the
attribution theory in particular as helping to divert actors and the other elements are balanced, or
interest from cognitive consistency theories. Re- consistent. According to Heider (1958), a bal-
search on cognitive consistency theories was sup- anced triad occurs when all the relationships are
planted by more complex (some believed) ‘‘cold positive, or two are negative and one is positive
cognition’’ approaches that strictly dealt with how (i.e., two people have a negative attitude toward an
cognitive processes work together, not accounting issue, but they like each other), and the elements
for ‘‘hot’’ forces such as feelings and motivation. in the triad fit together with no stress. Imbalance
occurs when these outcomes are not achieved (i.e.,
Theories of cognitive consistency theory did all three relationships are negative, or you have a
not die, they just went away for a while. Abelson negative attitude toward an issue that your friend
(1983) noted the reemergence of cognitive consis- favors). Heider assumed that people prefer bal-
tency theories in the early 1980s with the observa- anced states to imbalanced ones, because imbal-
tion that authors were beginning to write about ance results in tension and feelings of unpleasant-
social cognition theories in light of the renewed ness. Balance, according to Heider, is rewarding.
interest in the nature of affect (e.g., Fiske 1982;
Hamilton 1981). Toward the end of the 1980s, Interestingly, imbalanced states can also be
researchers began to take a closer look at the rewarding and exciting. Heider said that some-
influence of affect on cognitive processes (e.g., times balance can be ‘‘boring’’ and that ‘‘The
Forgas 1990; Isen 1987; Schwarz 1990). This change tension produced by unbalanced situations often
was precipitated by the development of several has a pleasing effect on our thinking and aesthetic
theoretical perspectives concerning the nature and feelings’’ (1958, p. 180). In other words, imbalance
structure of emotion (e.g., Frijda 1988; Ortony, stimulates us to think further, to solve the prob-
Clore, and Collins 1988). In an influential article, lem, to imagine, and to understand the mystery of
Zanna and Rempel (1988) argued that attitudes the imbalance. According to balance theory, there
toward different attitude objects may be more or are three ways to restore balance to an imbalanced
less determined by affective, rather than cognitive, triad: (1) one may change one’s attitude toward
sources. Consistency theories were not only back, either the object or the other person, in order to
they were thriving (Harary 1983).

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COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY THEORIES

restore balance; (2) one might distort reality to approach is the relationship of o to p, and p’s view
perceive that the relationships are balanced (e.g., of o as a valued person, and ‘‘suitability as a source
your friend doesn’t really favor something you of information, or support, or of influence con-
dislike, she really dislikes it); and (3) one might cerning the object’’ (Newcomb 1968b, p. 50).
cognitively differentiate the relationship one has Newcomb’s experiments supported his idea that
with a friend, so that the friend’s opposing attitude the tension that is aroused when p and o have
toward something one favors is separated from strong attitudes in the structure is much greater
one’s positive attitude toward the friend as a per- than when their attitudes are held with little con-
son (e.g., you might compartmentalize a friend’s viction. He also found that positively balanced
opposite political views apart from your attitude situations are the most preferred structures, fol-
toward her, in order to maintain your friendship lowed by nonbalanced structures, with the posi-
and maintain balance, in most other areas where tively imbalanced situations being the least preferred.
she is concerned) (Eagly and Chaiken 1993).
CONGRUENCY THEORY
A limitation of Heider’s balance theory is that
it did not account for the strength of attitudes A particular advantage of Osgood and Tannen-
between persons and objects in the triad. It merely baum’s (1955; Tannenbaum 1968) congruency
categorized the relationships as either positive or theory is its precision in assessing: 1) the strength
negative, and it therefore assumed that tension of the relationships between p and o, 2) the strength
that is produced by imbalance was objectively of of the motivation to change an incongruent triad,
the same strength and effect on the individuals in and 3) the degree of attitude change that is neces-
the triad. Because some attitudes are held with sary to balance a triad. Another advantage of this
more conviction and are more meaningful and theory is that, like Newcomb’s approach, it takes
important to us, it stands to reason that triads that into account the strength of the attitudes of p and o
involve imbalance with such strongly-held attitudes in evaluating the degree of incongruity in the
ought to evoke more tension (Eagly and Chaiken structure. Osgood and Tannenbaum discuss the
1993). Another shortcoming of the theory is that it Heider triad in terms of p, another individual,
only deals with relationships between three enti- termed the source (s) and s’s attitude (termed an
ties. To address this latter concern, Cartwright and ‘‘assertion’’) toward another object or concept (x).
Harary (1956) published a paper that nicely gener- According to the theory, attitudes can be quantified
alized Heider’s theory to account for structures of along a seven-unit evaluative scale, from extremely
any size. negative (−3) to neutral (0) to extremely positive
(+3).
STRAIN TOWARD SYMMETRY MODEL
When p’s attitude toward s and x are positive,
Newcomb (1953, 1968b) suggested that there are and s’s assertion is equally strong and of the same
three, rather than two types of balance relation- valence, there is a ‘‘congruous’’ structure to the
ships in a triad. First, a structure that does not triad. There is no motivation to change one’s
motivate modification (or acceptance) is termed a attitude toward the object or toward the source.
‘‘nonbalanced’’ structure. These situations are char- When p’s attitude toward s is positive, and p has an
acterized by indifference. Here, disagreement with equally positive attitude toward x that s later nega-
another individual about an issue or object does tively evaluates, an incongruous structure is estab-
not arouse tension if that other individual is de- lished. In this situation, p is motivated to change
valued (or otherwise not important). However, his or her attitude toward s, or x, or both, in the
when the other person is valued (i.e., a friend or direction of congruity. Consider the following
significant other), then agreement with him or her example. If p’s attitude toward s is a +2, and p’s
about an object results in a ‘‘positively balanced’’ attitude toward x is a −2, the structure would be
structure, while disagreement results in a ‘‘posi- congruent if s’s assessment is a −2. If, however, the
tively imbalanced’’ structure. The term ‘‘positive’’ assessment is a +2, the structure is imbalanced. In
in the latter two types of structure denotes the this case, p’s attitude toward either x or s needs to
valence of the relationship between p and o, who is change four units to make the triad congruent. Of
a valued other. The important focus in Newcomb’s course, if the relationships are weaker, the degree

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COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY THEORIES

of attitude change to make the triad congruent is The reason Rosenberg’s approach is called the
that much less (by the exact amount denoted in the affective-cognitive consistency model is that it pro-
quantitative calculation of all the relations of p, s, poses that inconsistency results when one’s feel-
and x). Osgood and Tannenbaum also argued that ings are inconsistent with one’s beliefs. That is,
strongly held attitudes would be less likely to be when the way we think and feel about an object or
modified in incongruent triads. This was support- person are at odds, we will modify one or both to
ed in subsequent research (Tannenbaum 1968). make the attitude consistent. Thus, this model
attempts to address consistency within one’s own
AFFECTIVE-COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY attitudes toward other people and objects, but also
MODEL consistency in how one’s value system relates to
other people and objects. The model is also unique
This approach suggests that people seek consisten- in suggesting that other people experience more
cy in order to satisfy a general motivation toward tension as a result of one’s own inconsistency.
simplicity in cognition, and/or to adhere to norms, Generally speaking, the model has been support-
traditions, customs, or values that reinforce con- ed by experiments (Rosenberg 1964), and is con-
sistency in one’s cognitions and behavior (Rosenberg sidered a very useful addition to the family of
1956, 1968). Another interesting twist on the con- cognitive consistency theories.
sistency approach is that in the affective-cognitive
consistency model, Rosenberg (1956, 1968) pro- COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY
posed that people are more motivated to maintain
cognitive consistency so that other people perceive Of all the cognitive consistency theories, none has
that they are consistent. In other words, while the had more influence on researchers and subse-
individual may occasionally feel some tension as a quent theories than cognitive dissonance theory
result of inconsistency, other people find the in- (Festinger 1957). A conservative estimate suggests
consistency more aversive, because it represents a that at least 1,000 articles have been published in
conflict for those around the individual. Specifical- which researchers present data bearing upon the
ly, if o has a positive attitude toward p, but p dislikes theory and their own revisions of the theory (Coop-
x, which o likes, o is caught between being friendly er and Fazio 1984). Many agree with Jones’s (1976)
with, and avoiding, p. In this model, o feels tension assessment that cognitive dissonance theory is ‘‘the
at this conflict, and must reduce the tension by most important development in social psychology
changing attitudes toward p (e.g., increasing at- to date’’ (p. x). Along the way, the theory has been
traction toward p, which would thereby outweigh hailed for its elegant simplicity, and its powerful
any conflict with p’s negative attitude toward x) or range of utility (Collins 1992). It has also been
toward x (e.g., o devalues x, so that p’s dislike of x criticized for its lack of specificity (Lord 1992;
does not result in o feeling conflicted). Schlenker 1992).

Rosenberg’s model also considers the rela- In formal terms, Festinger’s theory states that
tionship between the individual, his or her values, two elements (behaviors or thoughts, or both)
and an attitude object. For example, consider that ‘‘…are in a dissonant relation if, considering these
p also has various other important values, denoted two alone, the obverse of one element would
as y1, y2, y3, etc. Rosenberg suggests that the p-x-y follow from the other’’ (1957, p. 13). Dissonance,
triad is just as important in understanding cogni- then, refers to a negative arousal brought about by
tive consistency as the traditional p-o-x triad. In the one’s inconsistent thoughts or actions, or both.
affective-cognitive consistency approach, we must Essentially, this translates into the following as-
consider p’s attitudes toward each of his or her sumptions. If one has opposing thoughts or behav-
values, how p feels about x, and p’s perception of iors, or both, this brings about an aversive state of
the relationship between x and each of the values. tension, akin to a drive state like hunger or thirst.
When all or most of the p-x-y triads are consistent, This tension motivates the individual to seek relief
the individual has achieved cognitive consistency. by eliminating the tension. The tension can be
When most or all of the p-x-y triads are incon- dissipated by changing: 1) either a thought or
sistent, the individual experiences cognitive attitude to make it consonant with the opposing
inconsistency. thought or behavior, or 2) one’s behavior, to make

337

COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY THEORIES

it consonant with the opposing behavior or thought. theories of behavior were very dominant in virtual-
Because it is often much easier to change one’s ly all areas of inquiry in psychology. According to
thoughts rather than one’s behaviors, these are reinforcement principles, behavior that is followed
typically the elements that get modified by the by a reward is more likely to be repeated. Behavior
person in dissonance reduction. that is followed by a strong reward should be more
likely to be learned and repeated than behavior
As an example, Festinger (1957) talked about followed by a weak (or no) reward. Reinforcement
the dissonance experienced by most smokers at theory was such a simple yet very powerful princi-
some point in their lives. Smokers engage in be- ple that it seemed to explain virtually all behavior
havior (smoking) that is harmful to their health. in any context. For that reason, it was extremely
This is at odds with our desire to avoid harming popular among behavioral scientists. An experi-
ourselves. This arouses tension in the individual. ment by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) showed
The smoker could reduce it by changing his or her that reinforcement theory was not the all-purpose
behavior (quit smoking) or changing the way he or theory it appeared to be. In their experiment,
she thinks about the smoking behavior. As men- Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) had participants
tioned above, changing behavior is often more do boring tasks (i.e., turning pegs one-quarter turn
difficult than changing cognitions, and, as most on a cribbage board) for an hour. Participants
smokers will affirm, quitting smoking is certainly randomly assigned to a control group were then
no exception to this axiom. In this instance, given a short questionnaire in which they were
Festinger suggests, smokers eliminate their disso- asked to rate how much they enjoyed the task. In
nance by changing their thoughts about smoking. other conditions, the experimenter then told par-
They may: 1) disbelieve the validity of the health ticipants that his research assistant had not yet
consequences of smoking, or distort the informa- arrived for a different version of the experiment,
tion about smoking by thinking that smoking is and he asked the participant if he would do the
only harmful if you smoke so many packs a day, or research assistant’s job of telling the next partici-
if you inhale cigar smoke, etc., or more fatalistical- pant (in the hall, who was in reality a confederate)
ly, 2) convince themselves that ‘‘we all die of that he enjoyed the experiment tasks. This was, of
something, and I might as well die doing some- course, a lie, because the tasks were boring. These
thing I enjoy.’’ All of these changes in thoughts participants were assigned to one of two condi-
eliminate the dissonance for the smoker. tions. Some were given $1 to tell the lie, and others
were given $20 to tell the lie. After participants
It should be noted that Festinger was not had told the lie and were leaving, the experiment-
talking about logical inconsistencies. There are er ran up to the participant, explaining that he
certainly conditions under which people think and forgot to have the participant complete the ratings
do logically inconsistent things, yet feel no disso- of the attitudes toward the experiment tasks.
nance, or they feel dissonance, yet are not in a
situation where a logical inconsistency is present. The experiment pitted reinforcement theory
Festinger recognized what has become a truism in against the predictions made from dissonance
psychology, that a person’s reaction to a stimulus theory. Reinforcement theory suggests that the
is not a function of the objective properties of the participants who were given $20 should find the
stimulus itself, but rather the individual’s construal, tasks more rewarding (pleasant), and should have
or perception of, that stimulus. This explains why the a more positive attitude toward the tasks (and the
presence or absence of logical inconsistencies may experiment) than those only given a weak (or no)
or may not be accompanied by dissonance in an reward. Dissonance theory suggests that those in
individual. The most important and reliable way to the control condition would feel no dissonance
predict a person’s behavior in a dissonance situa- because they did a boring task, and would rate the
tion is to understand how he or she construes the tasks as such on the questionnaire. However, coun-
potential dissonance arousing thoughts or behav- ter to intuition (and reinforcement theory) those
iors, or both. in the $20 condition should feel little (or no)
dissonance, because although they did boring tasks,
History. Cognitive dissonance theory came and disliked the tasks, saying that the tasks were
onto the scene in the 1950s when reinforcement fun is not an inconsistent behavior if one has

338

COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY THEORIES

adequate justification ($20) for doing so. They This behavioral approach to dissonance phe-
could attribute their lying to the incentive, and nomena recasts the Festinger and Carlsmith ex-
they would not feel hypocritical. The $1 partici- periment in a very different light. In a replication
pants experienced significant dissonance because of the Festinger and Carlsmith study, Bem asked
they did boring tasks, but yet they said they thought participants to listen to a tape describing a person
the tasks were fun. As Festinger and Carlsmith named Bob, who did some boring motor tasks.
predicted, the $1 was an insufficient justification Control condition participants then were asked to
for the lie, so the dissonance remained unless the assess Bob’s attitude toward the tasks. Other sub-
participants changed their attitudes toward the jects then learned that Bob was given $1 or $20 to
task, and convinced themselves (as shown in their say to the next participant that the motor tasks
ratings of the tasks) that maybe the tasks were not were fun. Participants then listened to a recording
boring, and in fact, they rather enjoyed them! The of Bob enthusiastically telling a subsequent wom-
results were precisely as predicted, and this paved an participant how enjoyable the motor tasks were.
the way for a flurry of research that tested the Participants were then asked to evaluate Bob’s
exciting, often dramatic, and counterintuitive pre- attitude toward the motor tasks. Those who were
dictions that arose from cognitive dissonance theory. told that Bob was given $20 to tell the lie inferred
that the only reason he told the lie was because he
Alternate Versions of Dissonance Theory. was paid a lot of money. They assumed that he
Very soon after the publication of Festinger’s theo- didn’t really have a positive attitude toward the
ry, research revealed that the theory might need to motor tasks. Those who were told that Bob re-
be revised somewhat, to account for more of the ceived $1 didn’t think Bob had a good reason for
data that were being published, which didn’t quite lying, so his behavior (lying) told participants that
fit with the theory. In one notable revision, one of Bob must really feel positively about the motor
Festinger’s protegés, Aronson (1969) posited that tasks. Control condition participants inferred that
the theory would be strengthened if it stated that Bob negatively evaluated the motor tasks. As can
dissonance would be most clearly aroused when be seen, these results are virtually identical to
the self-concept of the person is engaged. In other those obtained in the Festinger and Carlsmith
words, dissonance is stronger and more clearly experiment. Thus, according to self-perception,
evoked when the way we think about ourselves is at the Festinger and Carlsmith participants inferred
odds with our cognitions or behavior. This modifi- their attitudes toward the boring tasks based on
cation was supported by much subsequent re- their recent behavior.
search (Aronson 1980). Less an alternate version
and more of a theoretical competitor, Bem’s (1967) Subsequent research on self-perception theo-
self-perception theory was the first major theory ry was aimed at testing the self-perception theo-
that offered a plausible account of the dissonance ry contention that no arousal exists as a result
data, and pointed to different causal mechanisms. of the dissonance situation. Zanna and Cooper
Unlike cognitive dissonance theory, Bem’s ap- (1976) found that arousal did indeed accompany
proach did not invoke reference to hypothetical counterattitudinal advocacy, so it was apparent
motivational processes, but rather tried to account that self-perception did not apply to all dissonance
for the person’s behavior in terms of the stimuli situations. Fazio, Zanna, and Cooper (1977) sug-
present in the individual’s environment and his or gested that dissonance accounted for attitude
her related behavior. Bem’s theory proposed that change when behavior is truly counterattitudinal,
attitudinal change in dissonance experiments hap- but that self-perception can account for situations
pens not due to an aversive tension (or other where behavior is only mildly counterattitudinal.
motivation), but due to a person’s perceptions of For most researchers, this seems to have settled
his or her own behavior. Specifically, Bem said that the debate about the situations to which each
people infer their attitudes from their actions, in theory may be applied (Abelson 1983).
much the same way that observers of our behavior
infer the nature of our attitudes from our behav- A final major revision was proposed by Coop-
ior. Attitude change occurs when their most re- er and Fazio (1984). They suggested that disso-
cent behavior is different from their previous nance does not result from mere cognitive incon-
attitudes. sistency, but only is evoked when the person feels
personally responsible for causing an aversive event.

339

COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY THEORIES

The theory suggests, then, that aversive conse- do just that (Shultz and Lepper 1996). Cognitive
quences are necessary for dissonance to occur. In consistency theories have been a cornerstone of
subsequent experiments, however, Aronson and psychology for over four decades, and while they
his colleagues (Aronson, Fried, and Stone 1991) receded into the background in the 1970s, they are
induced participants to make an educational video experiencing a strong resurgence of empirical and
advocating the use of condoms for safe sex, to be theoretical interest.
shown in high schools. Then, the participant was
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Kruglanski, eds., The Social Psychology of Knowledge. time periods who are aging from birth to death—
Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press. that is, moving across time and upward with age.
As they age, the people in each cohort are chang-
TODD D. NELSON ing socially and psychologically as well as biologi-
cally; they are actively participating with other
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE people; and they are accumulating knowledge,
THEORY attitudes, and experiences. The series of diagonal
bars (as in the selected cohorts A, B, and C) denote
See Cognitive Consistency Theories; Social how successive cohorts of people are continually
Psychology. being born, grow older through different eras of
time, and eventually die.
COHABITATION
Age Composition of the Population. The per-
See Alternative Life-Styles; Courtship. pendicular lines direct attention to the people si-
multaneously alive in the society at particular dates.
COHORT ANALYSIS A single cross-sectional slice through the many
coexisting cohorts (as in 1990) demonstrates how
See Cohort Perspectives; Longitudinal Research; people who differ in cohort membership also
Quasi-Experimental Research Design. differ in age—they are stratified by age from the
youngest at the bottom to the oldest at the top.
COHORT PERSPECTIVES Over time, while society moves through historical
events and changes, this vertical line should be
The birth cohort, or set of people born in approxi- seen as moving across the space from one period
mately the same period of time, has a triple refer- to the next. At different time periods the people in
ence as an analytical tool in sociology: (1) to co- particular age strata are no longer the same peo-
horts of people who are aging and succeeding each ple; inevitably, they have been replaced by young-
other in particular eras of history; (2) to the age er entrants from more recent cohorts with more
composition of the population and its changes; and recent life experiences.
(3) to the interplay between cohorts of people and
the age-differentiated roles and structures of society. Cohorts and Social Structures. Correspond-
Diverse sociological studies illustrate the use of ing to the age strata in the population, the perpen-
these cohort perspectives (i.e., both theoretical dicular lines also denote the age-related role op-
and empirical approaches) to investigate varied portunities and normative expectations available
aspects of aging and cohort succession, popula- in the various social structures (e.g., in schools for
tion composition, and the reciprocal relationships the young, in work organizations for those in the
between cohorts and social structures. middle years, in nursing homes for the old, in
families for all ages, etc.). People and structures
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK are interdependent: changes in one influence
changes in the other. Yet the two are often out of
Figure 1 is a rough schematization of the major alignment, causing problems for both individuals
conceptual elements implicated in these interre- and society.
lated cohort perspectives as they have relevance
for sociology (for an overview, see Riley, Johnson, This three-fold heuristic schematization, though
and Foner 1972; Riley, Foner and Riley 1999). highly oversimplified, aids interpretation and de-
sign of sociological work that takes cohort per-
Aging and Cohort Succession. The diagonal spectives into account. (For simplicity, the discus-
bars represent cohorts of people born at particular sion is limited here to cohorts in the larger society,
with entry into the system indexed by date of birth.
Parallel conceptualization refers also to studies of
cohorts entering other systems, such as hospitals,
with entry indexed by date of admission, or the
community of scientists, with entry indexed by
date of the doctoral degree—e.g., Zuckerman and

342

COHORT PERSPECTIVES
Schematic View of Cohort Perspectives

A BC

100

80

60

40

20

Age

1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010 2030 2050
Time (History)

Figure 1

SOURCE: Riley, Foner, and Waring, 1998, p. 245 (adapted).

Merton 1972; here ‘‘aging’’ refers to duration in and macro-level, objective and subjective—in a
the particular system.) range of studies on how people as they develop
and grow older move through diverse paths in the
AGING PERSPECTIVES changing society (Dannefer 1987), how sequences
of role transitions are experienced, and how aging
Research on the processes of aging within and people relate to the changing environment. Psy-
across cohorts illuminates the interrelated aspects chologists as well as sociologists study interindividual
of people’s lives and the particular characteristics changes in performance over the life course (e.g.,
and historical backgrounds of the cohorts to which Schaie 1996), while Nesselroade (1991) looks at
they belong. intra-individual fluctuations over shorter peri-
ods of time.
Intracohort Perspectives. Many empirical stud-
ies and much conceptual work uses the ‘‘life-course Longitudinal studies of aging in a single co-
approach’’ to trace over time the lives of members hort can contribute importantly to causal analysis
of a single cohort (e.g., Clausen 1986). As one by establishing the time order of correlated as-
familiar example, studies of ‘‘status attainment’’ pects of people’s lives and environmental events.
investigate lifelong trajectories of achievement be- However, this perspective is vulnerable to possible
haviors, using longitudinal and causal modeling to misinterpretation through the fallacy of ‘‘cohort-
examine the interconnections among such vari- centrism,’’ that is, erroneously assuming that mem-
ables as family background, scholastic achieve- bers of all cohorts will age in exactly the same
ment, succession of jobs, and employment and fashion as members of the cohort under study
unemployment (cf. Featherman 1981). The intra- (Riley 1978). Yet in fact, members of different
cohort perspective is used in many forms—micro- cohorts, as they respond to different periods of

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COHORT PERSPECTIVES

history, usually age in different ways. For example, course; and repeated longitudinal studies are be-
the enjoyment of ‘‘midlife’’ experienced at around ing launched, such as the National Institute on
age 50 by cohort members studied in the 1990s Aging’s Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and
may not be felt by some future cohort until age 85. Asset and Health Dynamics Among the Oldest
Old (AHEAD) (cf. Campbell 1994; O’Rand and
Intercohort Perspectives. Broader than the Campbell 1999).
intracohort focus, is a focus on the lives of mem-
bers of two or more successive cohorts who are Cohort perspectives are useful, not only in
growing older under differing historical or socio- explaining past changes in aging processes, but
cultural conditions. Studies of intercohort differ- also in improving forecasts of future changes.
ences in the late-twentieth century demonstrated Unlike the more usual straight projections of cross-
for other sciences what sociologists had learned sectional information, forecasts based on cohorts
early: the central principle that the process of can be informed by established facts about the past
aging is not immutable or fixed for all time, but lives of people in each of the cohorts already alive
varies across and within cohorts as society changes (e.g., Manton 1989). Thus, if cohorts of teenagers
(Riley 1978). Such studies have shown that mem- today are on the average less healthy, less cared
bers of cohorts already old differ markedly from for, or less prepared for life than their parents
those in cohorts not yet old in such respects as were at the same age (National Association of State
standard of living, education, work history, age of Boards of Education 1990), the lives of both off-
menarche, experience with acute vs. chronic dis- spring and parents will predictably also differ in
eases, and perhaps most importantly the number the future when both have grown older.
of years they can expect to live. These cohort
differences cannot be explained by evolutionary COMPOSITIONAL PERSPECTIVES.
changes in the human genome, which remains
much the same from cohort to cohort; instead, Complementing sociological work on cohort dif-
they result from a relatively unchanging genetic ferences (or similarities) in the aging process are
background combined with a continually chang- studies of how cohort succession contributes to
ing society (Riley and Abeles 1990, p.iii). Thus the formation and change in the age composition of
finding of cohort differences has pointed to possi- the population. Thus in Figure 1, the perpendicu-
ble linkages of lives with particular social or cultur- lar lines indicate how cohorts of people fit togeth-
al changes over historical time, or with particular er at given historical periods to form the cross-
‘‘period’’ events such as epidemics, wars, or de- sectional age strata of society; and how, as society
pressions (e.g., Elder and Rockwell 1979). These changes, new cohorts of people are continually
linkages are useful in postulating explanations for aging and entering these strata, replacing the pre-
changes—or absence of changes—in the process vious incumbents.
of aging.
Single Period of Time. In Figure 1, as indicat-
Studies of cohort differences focus on aging ed above, a single vertical line at a given period (as
processes at either the individual or the collective in 1990) is a cross-sectional slice through all the
level. At the individual level, cohort membership is coexisting cohorts, each with its unique size, com-
treated as a contextual characteristic of the individu- position, earlier life experiences, and historical
al, and then analyzed together with education, background. This familiar cross-sectional view of
religion, and other personal characteristics to in- all the age strata is often denigrated because its
vestigate how history and other factors affect the misinterpretation is the source of the life-course
heterogeneous ways individuals grow older (e.g., fallacy—that is, the erroneous assumption that
Messeri 1988; but see Riley 1998). At the collective cross-sectional age differences refer directly to the
level, the lives of members are aggregated within process of aging, hence disregarding the cohort
each cohort to examine alterations in average differences that may also be implicated (Riley
patterns of aging. Striking advances have recently 1973). That people who are differentially located
been made in the data banks available for intercohort in the age composition of society differ not only in
comparisons. Archived data from many large-scale age but also in cohort membership was drama-
studies now cover long periods of history, multiple tized early by Mannheim ([1928] 1952) and Ryder
societies, and multidisciplinary aspects of the life

344

COHORT PERSPECTIVES

(1968); yet persistent failure to comprehend this the oldest ages (Taeuber 1992)—strata of old peo-
duality has perpetuated numerous false stereo- ple who are healthier and more competent than
types (e.g., that intelligence or physical function- their predecessors (Manton, Corder, and Stallard
ing begin inevitable declines at very early ages). 1997). The advent of these ‘‘new’’ old people is
already having untold consequences: Individuals
Properly interpreted, of course, a cross-sec- now have time to spread education, work, family
tional perspective has its special uses: for describ- activities, and leisure more evenly over their long
ing current differences and similarities, social rela- lives, and wider structural opportunities are need-
tionships, and interactions among coexisting people ed in society for the age-heterogenous population.
who differ in age-cum-cohort membership. Thus,
for example, issues of ‘‘intergenerational equity’’ SOCIAL STRUCTURAL PERSPECTIVES
require explication by both age and cohort, as a
larger share of the federal budget is reportedly Cohorts, as described above, are composed of
spent on cohorts of people now old than on co- people, who age and fit together in strata to form
horts of children (Duncan, Hill, and Rodgers 1986; the composition of the population; but cohorts
Preston 1984). also shape, and are shaped by social structures—
the surrounding families, communities, work or-
Across Time. Comprehension of the underly- ganizations, educational institutions, and the like.
ing dynamics of the age strata requires going Against the backdrop of history, social structures,
beyond the single cross-sectional snapshot to a like lives, tend to change, and two ‘‘dynamisms’’—
sequence of cross-sections (the moving perpen- changing structures and changing lives—are in
dicular line in Figure 1), as successive cohorts continuing interplay, as each influences the other.
interact with historical trends in the society (Ryder Thus full understanding of cohorts requires un-
1965; Riley 1982). Historical change means not derstanding their reciprocal relations with struc-
only that new cohorts are continually entering the tures (as in Foner and Kertzer 1978; Mayer 1988).
system through birth or immigration, while others Toward this end, some studies examine how the
are leaving it through death or emigration (e.g., processes of aging and cohort flow relate to struc-
men tend to die earlier than women, and blacks tures, while other studies examine the congru-
earlier than whites). Historical change also means ence—or lack of congruence—between age com-
that the members of all existing cohorts are simul- position and social structures.
taneously aging and thus moving from younger to
older strata. As successive cohorts move concur- Aging and Structures . Because cohorts differ
rently through the system, they affect the age in size and character, and because their members
strata in several ways. They can alter the numbers age in new ways (the diagonal lines in Figure 1),
and kinds of people in particular strata, as each they exert collective pressures for adjustments—
cohort starts the life course with a characteristic not only in people’s ideas, values, and beliefs—but
size, genetic makeup, sex ratio, racial and ethnic also in role opportunities throughout the social
background, and other properties that are subse- institutions.
quently modified through migration, mortality,
and environmental contact. The succession of co- As one example, the influences of cohort dif-
horts can also affect the capacities, attitudes, and ferences in size were defined early by Joan Waring’s
actions of people in particular strata as the mem- (1975) powerful analysis of ‘‘disordered cohort
bers of each cohort bring to society their experi- flow.’’ This disordered flow has been dramatically
ences with the social and environmental events brought to attention as the Baby Boom cohorts
spanned by their respective lifetimes. first pressed for expansions in the school systems
and the labor force, and will become the twenty-
The most significant alterations in the age first century ‘‘senior boom’’ that will exacerbate
composition of modern societies stem from the the inadequacy of roles for the elderly. Later, as
dramatic and unprecedented increases in the lon- large cohorts were followed by smaller successors,
gevity of successive cohorts. Age pyramids dia- ways were sought to reduce these expanded struc-
gramming the age composition of the United States tures again. Meanwhile, as structures changed, the
in 2010 compared with 1955, for example, demon- lives of people moving through these structures
strate that entirely new strata have been added at also changed.

345

COHORT PERSPECTIVES

In another example, the influences of cohort Age Integration. Among societal responses to
differences in norms has been analyzed as the structural lag are current tendencies toward ‘‘age
process of ‘‘cohort norm formation’’ (Riley 1978). integration’’ (Riley, Foner, and Riley 1999, p.338).
As members of a cohort respond to shared histori- With pressures from the expanded numbers of
cal experiences, they gradually and subtly develop age strata, many age barriers dividing education,
common patterns of response, common defini- work and family, and retirement are gradually
tions, and common beliefs, that crystallize into becoming more flexible. People of different ages
new norms and become institutionalized in alter- are more often brought together, as lifelong edu-
ed social structures. For instance, over the past cation means that old and young study together, as
century many individual women in successive co- new entrepreneurships hire employees of mixed
horts have responded to common social changes ages, as in many families four generations are alive
by making many millions of separate but similar at the same time, or as the age segregation of
personal decisions to move in new directions: to nursing homes is replaced by home health care
go to college, have a career, or form their families with wide access to others. Where such tendencies
in innovative ways. Such decisions, beginning in may lead in the future is not yet known. But the
one cohort and transmitted from cohort to cohort, interdependence between cohorts and structure
can feed back into the social structures and gradu- is clear.
ally pervade entire segments of society. Thus, many
new age norms have become expectations that RESEARCH METHODS.
women should work, and have stimulated the
demand for new role opportunities at work and in When aspects of these broad cohort perspectives
the family for people of all ages. are translated into empirical studies, a variety of
research methods are required for specific objec-
Age Composition and Structures. At any giv- tives: from analyses of historical documents and
en period of history, the coexisting cohorts of subjective reports, to panel analyses and mathe-
people that form the age strata coincide with the matical modeling, to rigorous tests of specific
existing role structures (both indicated by the hypotheses. This brief overview can only hint at
perpendicular lines in Figure 1). People who differ the diverse research designs involved in analyses
in age and experience confront the available age- of the multiple factors affecting lives of people in
related opportunities, or lack of opportunities, in particular cohorts; or in the shifting role opportu-
work, education, recreation, the family, and else- nities for cohort members confronting economic,
where. However, people and structures rarely fit religious, political, and other social institutions
together smoothly: there is a mismatch or ‘‘lag’’ of (for one example, see Hendricks and Cutler 1990).
one dynamism behind the other.
Cohort Analysis. The tool most widely used in
Structural Lag. While people sometimes lag large-scale studies is ‘‘cohort analysis,’’ which takes
behind structures as technology advances, more the intercohort aging perspective—in contrast to
frequent in modern society is the failure of struc- ‘‘period analysis’’ (Susser 1969), which takes the
tural changes to keep pace with the increasing cross-sectional perspective. (The difference is illus-
numbers of long-lived and competent people (Riley, trated in Figure 1 by comparison of the diagonal
Kahn, and Foner 1994). Cohorts of those who are cohort lines, in contrast to comparison of a se-
young today have few ‘‘real-world’’ opportunities; quence of vertical compositional slices). In his
those in the middle years are stressed by the 1992 formulation of the technical aspects of co-
combined demands of work and family; and those hort analysis, Ryder defines the term as ‘‘the pa-
who have reached old age are restive in the pro- rameterization of the life cycle behavior of indi-
longed ‘‘roleless role’’ of retirement. Cohorts of viduals over personal time, considered in the
people now old are more numerous, better edu- aggregate, and the study of change in those pa-
cated, and more vigorous than their predecessors rameters over historical time’’ (p. 230). He concep-
were in 1920 or 1950; but few changes in the places tualizes the cohort as ‘‘providing a macro-analytic
for them in society have been made. Capable link between movements of individuals from one
people and empty role structures cannot long to another status, and movements of the popula-
coexist. Thus, implicit in the lag are perpetual tion composition from one period to the next.’’
pressures toward structural change.

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COHORT PERSPECTIVES

His classic work on ‘‘demographic translation’’ Cohn Richard 1972 ‘‘On Interpretation of Cohort and
sets out the mathematical procedure for moving Period Analyses: A Mathematical Note.’’ In Matilda
between the cohort and the period ‘‘modes of White Riley, Marilyn Johnson, and Anne Foner, eds.,
temporal aggregation’’ (Ryder 1963, 1983). Aging and Society: A Sociology of Age Stratification, Vol.
III. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Central to this method is the identification
problem confounding many attempts at cohort analy- Dannefer, Dale 1987 ‘‘Aging as Intracohort Differentia-
sis. This problem occurs from efforts to interpret tion: Accentuation, the Matthew Effect, and the Life
the separate effects of three concepts—cohort, Course.’’ Sociological Forum 2 (spring):211–236.
period, and age (C, P, and A)—when only two
variables, such as date and years of age, are in- Duncan, Greg J., Martha Hill, and Willard Rodgers 1986
dexed. Apart from various procedures that as- ‘‘The Changing Fortunes of Young and Old.’’Ameri-
sume one of the parameters is zero, the most can Demographics 8:26–34.
appropriate solution to this problem is to specify
and measure directly the three concepts used in Elder, Glenn H., Jr., and R. C. Rockwell 1979 ‘‘Econom-
the particular analysis (Cohn 1972; Rodgers 1982; ic Depression and Postwar Opportunity in Men’s
Riley, Foner, and Waring 1988, pp. 260–261). Lives: A Study of Life Patterns and Mental Health.’’
After all, as Ryder puts it (1992, p. 228), the cohort In R. G. Simmons, ed., Research in Community and
(C) is a set of actors, the age (A) is their age, and the Mental Health, Vol. 1. Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press.
period (P) stands for the social context at the time
of observation.. Featherman, David L. 1981 ‘‘The Life-Span Perspec-
tive.’’ In The National Science Foundation’s 5-Year Out-
Wide Range of Methods. Ryder’s exegesis of look on Science and Technology, Vol. 2. Washington,
this particular method illustrates, through its D.C.: Government Printing Office.
strengths and limitations, the utility of the tripar-
tite conceptualization of cohort perspectives as a Foner, Anne and David I. Kertzer 1978 ‘‘Transitions
heuristic guide. The strengths in Ryder’s formula- Over the Life Course: Lessons from Age-Set Socie-
tion focus exclusively on the significance of co- ties.’’ American Journal of Sociology 83:1081–1104.
horts as a macro-analytic vehicle for social change.
In the broader cohort perspectives outlined here, Hendricks, Jon, and Stephen J. Cutler 1990 ‘‘Leisure
many other methods are useful for specific objec- and the Structure of our Life Worlds.’’ Aging and
tives where cohort analysis is inappropriate. Some Society 10:85–94.
employ a cross-sectional approach. Others utilize
intercohort comparisons to focus on aging proc- Mannheim, Karl (1928) 1952 ‘‘The Problem of Genera-
esses at the individual as well as the collective tions.’’ In Paul Kecskemeti, ed., Essays on the Sociology
levels. Still others complement demographic analyses of Knowledge. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
of populations with examination of the related
structures of social roles and institutions. Manton, Kenneth G. 1989 ‘‘Life-Style Risk Factors.’’ In
M. W. Riley and J. W. Riley, Jr., eds., The Quality of
Thus, despite its signal contributions, neither Aging: Strategies for Interventions, Special issue of The
cohort analysis nor any other single method can Annals (503). Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage.
comprehend the full power of cohorts as ingredi-
ents of aging processes, age composition, and the ———, Larry Corder, and Eric Stallard 1997 ‘‘Chronic
complex interplay with social structure. Disability Trends in Elderly United States Popula-
tions: 1982–1994.’’ Proceedings of the National Academy
(SEE ALSO: Structural Lag) of Sciences 94:2593–2598

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Clausen, John A. 1986 The Life Course: A Sociological
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National Association of State Boards of Education 1990
Code Blue: Uniting for Healthier Youth. Alexandria, Va.:
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Nesselroade, John R. 1991 ‘‘The Warp and the Woof of
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Liben, and D. S. Palermo, eds., Visions Of Aesthetics. ——— 1965 ‘‘The Cohort as a Concept in the Study of
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O’Rand, Angela M. and Richard T. Campbell 1999 ‘‘On ——— 1968 ‘‘Cohort Analysis.’’ International Encyclope-
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Schaie, eds., Handbook of Theories of Aging. New York: Fertility.’’ In Rodolfo A. Bulatao and Ronald D. Lee,
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Preston, Samuel 1984 ‘‘Children and the Elderly: Di-
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Riley, Matilda White 1973 ‘‘Aging and Cohort Succes-
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eds., Handbook of Theories of Aging. New York: Springer. Collective behavior consists of those forms of
social behavior in which the usual conventions
Riley, Matilda White, Robert L. Kahn, and Anne Foner cease to guide social action and people collectively
1994 Age and Structural Lag: Society’s Failure to Provide transcend, bypass, or subvert established institu-
Meaningful Opportunities in Work, Family, and Leisure. tional patterns and structures. As the name indi-
New York: Wiley. cates, the behavior is collective rather than indi-
vidual. Unlike small group behavior, it is not
Riley, Matilda White, Anne Foner, and Joan Waring principally coordinated by each-to-each personal
1988 ‘‘Sociology of Age.’’ In Neil J. Smelser, ed., relationships, though such relationships do play
Handbook of Sociology. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage an important part. Unlike organizational behav-
Publications. ior, it is not coordinated by formally established
goals, authority, roles, and membership designa-
Riley, Matilda White, Marilyn Johnson, and Anne Foner tions, though emergent leadership and an infor-
1972 Aging and Society, Vol. III: A Sociology of Age mal role structure are important components. The
Stratification. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. best known forms of collective behavior are ru-
mor, spontaneous collective responses to crises
Rodgers, Willard L. 1982 ‘‘Estimable Functions of Age, such as natural disasters; crowds, collective panics,
Period, and Cohort Effects.’’ American Sociological
Review 47:774–787.

Ryder, Norman B. 1963 ‘‘The Translation Model of
Demographic Change.’’ In Norman B. Ryder, ed.,
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crazes, fads, fashions, publics (participants in form- posit deprivation shared by members of a social
ing public opinion), cults, followings; and reform class, ethnic group, gender group, age group, or
and revolutionary movements. Social movements other social category. Because empirical evidence
are sometimes treated as forms of collective behav- has shown consistently that the most deprived are
ior, but are often viewed as a different order of not the most likely to engage in collective protest,
phenomena because of the degree of organization more sophisticated investigators assume a condi-
necessary to sustain social action. This essay will tion of relative deprivation (Gurr 1970), based on a
include only those social movement theories that discrepancy between expectations and actual con-
also have relevance for the more elementary forms ditions. Relative deprivation frequently follows a
of collective behavior. period of rising expectations brought on by im-
proving conditions, interrupted by a setback, as in
Theories of collective behavior can be classi- the J-curve hypothesis of revolution (Davies 1962).
fied broadly as focusing on the behavior itself Early explanations for collective behavior, general-
(microlevel) or on the larger social and cultural ly contradicted by empirical evidence and repudi-
settings within which the behavior occurs (macrolevel ated by serious scholars, characterized much crowd
or structural). An adequate theory at the microlevel behavior and many social movements as the work
must answer three questions, namely: How is it of criminals, the mentally disturbed, persons suf-
that people come to transcend, bypass, or subvert fering from personal identity problems, and other
institutional patterns and structures in their activi- deviants.
ty; how do people come to translate their attitudes
into significant overt action; and how do people Rational decision theories. Several recent con-
come to act collectively rather than singly? Struc- vergence theories assume that people make ration-
tural theories identify the processes and condi- al decisions to participate or not to participate in
tions in culture and social structure that are con- collective behavior on the basis of selfinterest.
ducive to the development of collective behavior. Two important theories of this sort are those of
Microlevel theories can be further divided into Richard Berk and Mark Granovetter.
action or convergence theories and interaction theories.
Berk (1974) defines collective behavior as the
MICROLEVEL CONVERGENCE THEORIES behavior of people in crowds, which means activity
that is transitory, not well planned in advance,
Convergence theories assume that when a critical involving face-to-face contact among participants,
mass of individuals with the same disposition to and considerable cooperation, though he also in-
act in a situation come together, collective action cludes panic as competitive collective behavior.
occurs almost automatically. In all convergence Fundamental to his theory is the assumption that
theories it is assumed that: ‘‘The individual in the crowd activity involves rational, goal-directed ac-
crowd behaves just as he would behave alone, only tion, in which possible rewards and costs are con-
more so,’’ (Allport 1924, p. 295), meaning that sidered along with the chances of support from
individuals in collective behavior are doing what others in the crowd. Rational decision making
they wanted to do anyway, but could not or feared means reviewing viable options, forecasting events
to do without the ‘‘facilitating’’ effect of similar that may occur, arranging information and choices
behavior by others. The psychological hypothesis in chronological order, evaluating the possible
that frustration leads to aggression has been wide- consequences of alternative courses of action, judg-
ly applied in this way to explain racial lynchings ing the chances that uncertain events will occur,
and riots, rebellion and revolution, and other and choosing actions that minimize costs and maxi-
forms of collective violence. Collective behavior mize benefits. Since the best outcome for an indi-
has been conceived as a collective pursuit of mean- vidual in collective behavior depends fundamen-
ing and personal identity when strains and imbal- tally on what other people will do, participants
ances in social institutions have made meaning attempt to advance their own interests by recruit-
and identity problematic (Klapp 1972). In order to ing others and through negotiation. Berk’s theory
explain the convergence of a critical mass of peo- does not explain the origin and nature of the
ple experiencing similar frustrations, investigators proposals for action that are heard in the crowd,
but describes the process by which these proposals

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are sifted as the crowd moves toward collaborative century, the breakdown of social ties has created
action, usually involving a division of labor. To masses who form larger and larger crowds that are
explain decision making, he offers a simple equa- controlled by a few national and international
tion in which the probability of a person beginning leaders, creating an historically new politics or
to act (e.g., to loot) is a function of the product of appeal to the masses.
the net anticipated personal payoff for acting (e.g.,
equipment or liquor pilfered) and the probability Herbert Blumer (1939) developed a version of
of group support in that action (e.g., bystanders the contagion approach that has been the start-
condoning or joining in the looting.) ing point for theories of collective behavior for
most American scholars. Blumer explains that the
Granovetter’s (1978) application of rational fitting together of individual actions in most group
decision theory focuses on the concept of thresh- behavior is based on shared understandings un-
old. He assumes that each person, in a given situa- der the influence of custom, tradition, conven-
tion, has a threshold number or percentage of tions, rules, or institutional regulations. In con-
other people who must already be engaging in a trast, collective behavior is group behavior that
particular action before he or she will join in. Since arises spontaneously, and not under the guidance
it can be less risky for the individual to engage in of preestablished understandings, traditions, or
collective behavior (riotous behavior, for exam- rules of any kind. If sociology in general studies
ple) when many others are doing so than when few the social order, collective behavior consists of the
are involved, the benefit-to-cost ratio improves as processes by which that order comes into exist-
participation increases. Based on the personal ence. While coordination in publics and social
importance of the action in question, individual movements and involving more complex cognitive
estimation of risk, and a host of other conditions, processes called interpretation interaction, coordi-
individual thresholds will vary widely in any situa- nation in the crowd and other elementary forms of
tion. Collective behavior cannot develop without collective behavior is accomplished through a proc-
low-threshold individuals to get it started, and ess of circular reaction. Circular reaction is a type of
development will stop when there is no one with interstimulation in which the response by others
the threshold necessary for the next escalation to one individual’s expression of feeling simply
step. Collective behavior reaches an equilibrium, reproduces that feeling, thereby reinforcing the
which can be ascertained in advance from know- first individual’s feeling, which in turn reinforces
ing the distribution of thresholds, when this point the feelings of the others, setting in motion an
is reached. Like Berk, Granovetter makes no effort escalating spiral of emotion. Circular reaction be-
to explain what actions people will value. Further- gins with individual restlessness, when people have a
more, intuitively appealing as the theory may be, blocked impulse to act. When many people share
operationalizing and measuring individual thresh- such restlessness, and are already sensitized to one
olds may be, for all practical purposes, impossible. another, circular reaction can set in and create a
process of social unrest in which the restless state is
MICRO-LEVEL INTERACTION THEORIES mutually intensified into a state of milling. In
milling, people move or shift their attention aim-
Contagion Theories. Early interaction theories, lessly among each other, thereby becoming preoc-
which lay more emphasis on what happens to cupied with each other and decreasingly respon-
people in the context of a crowd or other collectivi- sive to ordinary objects and events. In the state of
ty than on the dispositions people bring to the rapport, collective excitement readily takes over,
collectivity, stressed either the emergence of a leading to a final stage of social contagion, the
group mind or processes of imitation, suggestion, ‘‘relatively rapid, unwitting, and non-rational dis-
or social contagion. Serge Moscovici (1985a, 1985b) semination of a mood, impulse, or form of con-
is a defender of these early views, stressing that duct.’’(Blumer 1939) Social unrest is also a prel-
normal people suffer a lowering of intellectual ude to the formation of publics and social movements.
faculties, an intensification of emotional reactions, In the case of the public, the identification of an
and a disregard for personal profit in a crowd. The issue rather than a mood or point of view converts
fundamental crowd process is suggestion, emanat- the interaction into discussion rather than circular
ing from charismatic leaders. During the twentieth reaction. Social movements begin with circular

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COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR

reaction, but with persisting concerns they acquire according to emergent norm theory, a conspicu-
organization and programs, and interpretative in- ous component in the symbolic exchange connect-
teraction prevails. ed with the development of collective behavior
should consist of seeking and supplying justifica-
Emergent Norm Theory. Ralph Turner and tions for the collectivity’s definition of the situa-
Lewis Killian [(1957] 1989) criticize convergence tion and action, whereas there should be no need
theories for underemphasizing the contribution for justifications if the feelings were spontaneously
of interaction processes in the development of induced through contagion. Fifth, a norm not only
collective behavior, and found both convergence requires or permits certain definitions and behav-
and contagion theories at fault for assuming that iors; it also sets acceptable limits, while limits are
participants in collective behavior become homo- difficult to explain in terms of a circular reaction
geneous in their moods and attitudes. Instead of spiral. Finally, while contagion theories stress ano-
emotional contagion, it is the emergence of a nymity within the collectivity as facilitating the
norm or norms in collective behavior that facili- diffusion of definitions and behavior that deviate
tates coordinated action and creates the illusion of from conventional norms, emergent norm theory
unanimity. The emergent norm is characteristical- asserts that familiarity among participants in col-
ly based on established norms, but transforms or lective behavior enhances the controlling effect of
applies those norms in ways that would not ordi- the emergent norm.
narily be acceptable. What the emergent norm
permits or requires people to believe, feel, and do Emergent norm theory has been broadened
corresponds to a disposition that is prevalent but to make explicit the answers to all three of the key
not universal among the participants. In contrast questions microlevel theories must answer: The
to convergence theories, however, it is assumed emergent normative process as just described pro-
that participants are usually somewhat ambivalent, vides the principal answer to the question, why
so that people could have felt and acted in quite people adopt definitions and behavior that tran-
different ways if the emergent norm had been scend, bypass, or contravene established social
different. For example, many rioters also have norms; participants translate their attitudes into
beliefs in law and order and fair play that might overt action rather than remaining passive princi-
have been converted into action had the emergent pally because they see action as feasible and timely;
norm been different. Striking events, symbols, and and action is collective rather than individual pri-
keynoting—a gesture or symbolic utterance that marily because of preexisting groupings and net-
crystallizes sentiment in an undecided and ambiva- works and because an event or events that chal-
lent audience—shape the norm and supply the lenge conventional understandings impel people
normative power, introducing an element of un- to turn to others for help in fashioning a convinc-
predictability into the development and direction ing definition of the problematic situation. In
of all collective behavior. addition, these three sets of processes interact and
are mutually reinforcing in the development and
Emergent norm theory differs from conta- maintenance of collective behavior. This elabora-
gion theories in at least six important and empiri- tion of the emergent norm approach is presented
cally testable ways. First, the appearance of una- as equally applicable to elementary forms of collec-
nimity in crowds, social movements, and other tive behavior such as crowds and to highly devel-
forms of collective behavior is an illusion, pro- oped and organized forms such as social movements.
duced by the effect of the emergent norm in
silencing dissent. Second, while the collectivity’s Other Interaction Theories. Although all
mood and definition of the situation are spontane- interactional theories presume that collective be-
ously induced in some of the participants, many havior develops through a cumulative process,
participants experience group pressure first and Max Heirich (1964) makes this central to his theo-
only later, if at all, come to share the collectivity’s ry of collective conflict, formulated to explain the
mood and definition of the situation. Third, un- 1964–1965 year of spiraling conflict between stu-
like collective excitement and contagion, norma- dents and the administration at the University of
tive pressure is as applicable to quiet states such as California, Berkeley. Common action occurs when
dread and sorrow as it is to excited states. Fourth, observers perceive a situation as critical, with limit-
ed time for action, with the crisis having a simple

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COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR

cause and being susceptible to influence by simple MACROLEVEL OR STRUCTURAL
acts. Heirich specifies determinants of the process
by which such common perceptions are created THEORIES
and the process by which successive redefinitions
of the situation take place. Under organizational Microlevel theories attempt first to understand
conditions that create unbridged cleavages be- the internal dynamics of collective behavior, then
tween groups that must interact regularly, conflict use that understanding to infer the nature of
escalates through successive encounters in which conditions in the society most likely to give rise to
cleavages become wider, issues shift, and new collective behavior. In contrast, macrolevel or struc-
participants join the fray, until the conflict be- tural theories depend primarily on an understand-
comes focused around the major points of struc- ing of the dynamics of society as the basis for
tural strain in the organization. developing propositions concerning when and
where collective behavior will occur. Historically,
Also studying collective conflict as a cumula- most theories of elementary collective behavior
tive process, Bert Useem and Peter Kimball (1989) have been microlevel theories, while most theories
developed a sequence of stages for prison riots, of social movements have been structural. Neil
proceeding from pre-riot conditions, to initiation, Smelser’s 1993value-added theory is primarily struc-
expansion, siege, and finally termination. While tural but encompasses the full range from panic
they identify disorganization of the governing body and crazes to social movements.
as the key causative factor, they stress that what
happens at any one stage is important in determin- Smelser attempted to integrate major elements
ing what happens at the next stage. from the Blumer and Turner/Killian tradition of
microtheory into an action and structural theory
Clark McPhail (1991), in an extensive critique derived from the work of Talcott Parsons. Smelser
of all prior work, rejects the concept of collective describes the normal flow of social action as pro-
behavior as useless because it denotes too little ceeding from values to norms to mobilization into
and fails to recognize variation and alternation social roles and finally to situational facilities. Val-
within assemblages. Instead of studying collective ues are the more general guides to behavior; norms
behavior or crowds, he proposes the study of specify more precisely how values are to be ap-
temporary gatherings, defined as two or more per- plied. Mobilization into roles is organization for
sons in a common space and time frame. Gather- action in terms of the relevant values and norms.
ings are analyzed in three stages, namely, assem- Situational facilities are the means and obstacles
bling, gathering, and dispersing. Rather than that facilitate and hinder attainment of concrete
positing an overarching principle such as conta- goals. The four ‘‘components of social action’’ are
gion or norm emergence, this approach uses de- hierarchized in the sense that any redefinition of a
tailed observation of individual actions and inter- component requires readjustment in the compo-
actions within gatherings and seeks explanations nents below it, but not necessarily in those above.
at this level. Larger events such as campaigns and Each of the four components in turn has seven
large gatherings are to be explained as the ‘‘repeti- levels of specificity with the same hierarchical
tion and/or combination of individual and collective ordering as the components. Types of collective
sequences of actions.’’(McPhail 1991, p. 221). These behavior differ in the level of the action compo-
elementary actions consist of simple observable nents they aim to restructure. Social movements
actions such as clustering, booing, chanting, col- address either values, in the case of most revolu-
lective gesticulation, ‘‘locomotion,’’ synchroclapping, tionary movements, or norms, in the case of most
and many others. The approach has been imple- reform movements. Elementary collective behav-
mented by precise behavioral observation of peo- ior is focused at either the mobilization or the
ple assembling for demonstrations and other situational facilities level. Collective behavior is
preplanned gatherings. A promised further work characterized formally as ‘‘an uninstitutionalized
will help determine how much this approach will mobilization for action in order to modify one or
contribute to the understanding of those fairly more kinds of strain on the basis of a generalized
frequent events usually encompassed by the term reconstitution of a component of action.’’ (Smelser
collective behavior. 1963 p. 71). The distinguishing feature of this
action is a shortcircuiting of the normal flow of

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COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR

action from the general to the specific. There is a the structural level are conflicts inherent in materi-
jump from extremely high levels of generality to al and ideological differences between social groups
specific, concrete situations, without attention to that are not easily resolvable within the existing
the intervening components and their levels of social structure, meaning especially the state. At
specificity. Thus, in Smelser’s view, collective be- the political/ideological level, dissenting groups are
havior is intrinsically irrational. unable to express their dissent through estab-
lished channels, and their declared ends and means
In order for collective behavior to occur, six are considered illegitimate. At the cultural level,
conditions must be met, each of which is necessary the existence of groups with incompatible defini-
but insufficient without the others. Smelser likens tions of the situation, appropriate behavior, or
the relationship among the six determinants to the legitimate rights can lead to conflict. At the contex-
value-added process in economics, with each add- tual level, a history of past conflicts between a
ing an essential component to the finished prod- dissenting group and police or other authorities
uct. The first determinant is structural conduciveness, enhances the likelihood that a minor incident will
meaning that the social structure is organized in a become a flashpoint. At the situational level, imme-
way that makes the particular pattern of action diate spatial and social conditions can make public
feasible. The second determinant is structural strain, control and effective negotiation difficult. Finally,
consisting of ambiguities, deprivations, conflicts, at the interactional level, the dynamics of interac-
and discrepancies experienced by particular popu- tion between police and protesters, as influenced
lation segments. Third (and central in Smelser’s by meanings derived from the other five levels,
theorizing), is the growth and spread of a general- ultimately determine whether there will or will not
ized belief that identifies and characterizes the sup- be public disorder and how severe it will be. Unlike
posed source of strain and specifies appropriate Smelser, Waddington and associates make no as-
responses. The generalized belief incorporates the sumption that all levels of determinants must be
short-circuiting of the components of action that is operative. Also, they make no explicit assumption
a distinctive feature of collective behavior. Fourth that disorderly behavior is irrational, though their
are precipitating factors, usually a dramatic event or goal is to formulate public policy that will mini-
series of events that give the generalized belief mize the incidence of public disorders.
concrete and immediate substance and provide a
concrete setting toward which collective action Resource mobilization theories have been ad-
can be directed. The fifth determinant is mobiliza- vanced as alternatives to Smelser’s value-added
tion of participants for action, in which leadership theory and to most microlevel theories. Although
behavior is critical. The final determinant is the they have generally been formulated to explain
operation of social control. Controls may serve to social movements and usually disavow continuity
minimize conduciveness and strain, thus prevent- between social movements and elementary collec-
ing the occurrence of an episode of collective tive behavior, they have some obvious implications
behavior, or they may come into action only after for most forms of collective behavior. There are
collective behavior has begun to materialize, ei- now several versions of resource mobilization theo-
ther dampening or intensifying the action by the ry, but certain core assumptions can be identified.
way controls are applied. These determinants need Resource mobilization theorists are critical of pri-
not occur in any particular order. or collective behavior and social movement theo-
ries for placing too much emphasis on ‘‘structural
Addressing a more limited range of phenome- strain,’’ social unrest, or grievances; on ‘‘general-
na, David Waddington, Karen Jones, and Chas ized beliefs,’’ values, ideologies, or ideas of any
Critcher (1989) have formulated a flashpoint mod- kind; and on grass-roots spontaneity in accounting
el to explain public disorders that bears some for the development and characteristics of collec-
resemblance to the value-added component of tive behavior. They assume that there is always
Smelser’s theory. Public disorders typically begin sufficient grievance and unrest in society to serve
when some ostensibly trivial incident becomes a as the basis for collective protest (McCarthy and
flashpoint. The flashpoint model is a theory of the Zald 1977), and that the ideas and beliefs exploited
conditions that give a minor incident grave signifi- in protest are readily available in the culture
cance. Explanatory conditions exist at six levels. At (Oberschall 1973). They see collective protest as

353

COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR

centrally organized, with the bulk of the partici- Davies, James C. 1962 ‘‘Toward a Theory of Revolu-
pants ‘‘mobilized’’ much as soldiers in an army are tion.’’ American Journal of Sociology 27:5–19.
mobilized and directed by their commanders. In
explaining the rise of collective protest they em- Granovetter, Mark 1978 ‘‘Threshold Models of Collec-
phasize the availability of essential resources, such tive Behavior.’’ American Journal of Sociology 83:1420–43.
as money, skills, disposable time, media access,
and access to power centers, and prior organiza- Gurr, Ted R. 1970 Why Men Rebel. Princeton: Princeton
tion as the base for effectively mobilizing the University Press.
resources. Resource mobilization theorists favor
the use of rational decision models to explain the Heirich, Max 1971 The Spiral of Conflict: Berkeley, 1964.
formulation of strategy and tactics, and emphasize Berkeley: University of California Press.
the role of social movement professionals in di-
recting protest. Klapp, Orrin E. 1972 Currents of Unrest: An Introduction
to Collective Behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart, &
There has been some convergence between Winston.
resource mobilization theorists and the theorists
they criticize. The broadened formulation of emer- McPhail, Clark 1991 The Myth of the Madding Crowd New
gent norm theory to incorporate resources (under York: Aldine de Gruyter.
‘‘feasibility’’) and prior organization as determi-
nants of collective behavior takes account of the Melucci, Alberto 1989 Nomads of the Present: Social Move-
resource mobilization contribution without, how- ments and Individual Needs in Contemporary Society.
ever, giving primacy to these elements. Similarly, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
many resource mobilization theorists have incor-
porated social psychological variables in their models. Moscovici, Serge 1985a The Age of the Crowd: A Historical
Treatise on Mass Psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge
Alberto Melucci (1989) offers a constructivist University Press.
view of collective action which combines macro-
and micro-orientations. Collective action is the ——— 1985b ‘‘The Discovery of the Masses,’’ In C. F.
product of purposeful negotiations whereby a plu- Graumann and Moscovici, eds., Changing Concep-
rality of perspectives, meanings, and relationships tions of Crowd Mind and Behavior, 5–25 New York:
crystallize into a pattern of action. Action is con- Springer-Verlag.
structed to take account of the goals of action, the
means to be utilized, and the environment within Smelser, Neil J. 1963 Theory of Collective Behavior. New
which action takes place, which remain in a con- York: Free Press.
tinual state of tension. The critical process is the
negotiation of collective identities for the partici- Turner, Ralph H., and Lewis M. Killian (1957) 1987
pants. In the current post-industrial era, conflicts Collective Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Pren-
leading to collective action develop in those areas tice-Hall.
of communities and complex organizations in which
there is greatest pressure on individuals to con- Turner. Ralph H. 1994 ‘‘Race Riots Past and Present: A
form to the institutions that produce and circulate Cultural-Collective Behavior Approach.’’ Symbolic In-
information and symbolic codes. teraction 17:309–24.

REFERENCES ——— 1996 ‘‘Normative Emergence in Collective Be-
havior and Action’’ Solidarity: Research in Social Move-
Allport, Floyd H. 1924 Social Psychology. Boston: Hough- ments. 1:1–16.
ton Mifflin.
Useem, Bert, and Peter Kimball 1989 States of Siege: U. S.
Berk, Richard A. 1974 ‘‘A Gaming Approach to Crowd Prison Riots, 1971–1986. New York: Oxford Universi-
Behavior.’’ American Sociological Review 39:355–73. ty Press.

Blumer, Herbert 1939 ‘‘Collective Behavior.’’ in Robert Waddington, David, Karen Jones, and Chas Critcher
E. Park ed., An Outline of the Principles of Sociology 1989 Flashpoints: Studies in Public Disorder. London:
221–280. New York: Barnes & Noble. Routledge.

RALPH H. TURNER

COLONIZATION

See Imperialism, Colonialism, and
Decolonization.

354

COMMUNITARIANISM

COMMUNES philosophers often ignored one another’s works,
despite the fact that they dealt with closely relat-
See Alternative Life-Styles. ed issues. It should be noted, though, that
communitarians were much more inclined to be
COMMUNISM openly and systematically normative than many
social scientists.
See Socialism and Communism.
HISTORY
COMMUNITARIANISM
Like many other schools of thought, communitari-
Communitarianism is a social philosophy that core anism has changed considerably throughout its
assumption is the required shared (‘‘social’’) for- history, and has various existing camps that dif-
mulations of the good. The assumption is both ferentiate significantly. As far as can be deter-
empirical (social life exhibits shared values) and mined, the term ‘‘communitarian’’ was not used
normative (shared values ought to be formulated). until 1841, when Goodwyn Barmby, an official of
While many sociologists may consider such an the Communist Church, founded the Universal
assumption as subject to little controversy, com- Communitarian Association.
munitarianism is in effect a highly contested social
philosophy. It is often contrasted with liberalism Communitarian issues were addressed long
(based on the works of John Locke, Adam Smith, before that date, however, for instance in Aristot-
and John Stuart Mill, not to be confused with le’s comparison of the isolated lives of people in
liberalism as the term is used in contemporary the big metropolis to close relationships in the
American politics). Liberalism’s core assumption smaller city. Both the Old and the New Testa-
is that what people consider right or wrong, their ment deal with various issues one would consid-
values, should strictly be a matter for each indi- er communitarian today, for instance the obliga-
vidual to determine. To the extent that social tions to one’s community. The social teaching of
arrangements and public policies are needed, these the Catholic Church (for instance, concerning
should not be driven by shared values but by subsidiarity) and of early utopian socialism (for
voluntary arrangements and contracts among the example, regarding communal life and solidarity),
individuals involved, thus reflecting their values all contain strong communitarian elements, although
and interests. Communitarians, in contrast, see these works are not comprehensive communitarian
social institutions and policies as affected by tradi- statements and are not usually considered as
tion and hence by values passed from genera- communitarian works per se.
tion to generation. These become part of the
self through nonrational processes, especially Among early sociologists whose work is strongly
internalization, and are changed by other process- communitarian, although this fact is as a rule
es such as persuasion, religious or political indoc- overlooked by social philosophers, are Ferdinand
trination, leadership, and moral dialogues. Tönnies, especially his comparison of the Gemeinschaft
and Gessellschaft, (or community and society); Emile
In addition, communitarianism emphasizes Durkheim, especially his concerns about the inte-
particularism, the special moral obligations peo- grating role of social values and the relations
ple have to their families, kin, communities, and between the individual and society; and George
societies. In contrast, liberalism stresses the uni- Herbert Mead. These works are extensively exam-
versal rights of all individuals, regardless of their ined elsewhere in this encyclopedia and hence are
particular membership. Indeed, liberal philoso- not discussed here.
pher Jeremy Bentham declared that the very no-
tion of a society is a fiction. A communitarian who combined social phi-
losophy and sociology Martin Buber. Especially
Until 1990, sociological and social psychologi- relevant are Buber’s contrast between I-It and I-
cal researchers and theorists and communitarian Thou relations, his interest in dialogue, and his
distinction between genuine communal relation-
ships and objectified ones.

355

COMMUNITARIANISM

Other sociologists whose work contains least until 1990). Among the arguments made by
communitarian elements are Robert E. Park, Wil- authoritarian communitarians is that social order
liam Kornhauser, and Robert Nisbet. Philip Selznick, is important to people, while what the West calls
Robert Bellah and his associates, and Amitai Etzioni ‘‘liberty’’ actually amounts to social, political, and
wrote books that laid the foundations for new (or moral anarchy; that curbing legal and political
responsive) communitarianism, which Etzioni rights is essential for rapid economic develop-
launched as a ‘‘school’’ and somewhat of a social ment; and that legal and political rights are a
movement in 1990. Western idea, which the West uses to harshly
judge other cultures that have their own inherent
Selznick’s The Moral Commonwealth is especial- values. The extent to which early sociological works,
ly key in forming a strong intellectual grounding for instance, by Tönnies and Community and Power
for new communitarian thinking, and presents an by Robert Nisbet, include authoritarian elements,
integration of moral and social theory in a synthe- is open to question.
sis of ‘‘communitarian liberalism.’’ According to
Selznick, communitarianism does not reject basic Political Theoreticians . In the 1980s
liberal ideals and achievements; it seeks recon- communitarian thinking became largely associat-
struction of liberal perspectives to mitigate the ed with three scholars: Charles Taylor, Michael
excesses of individualism and rationalism, and to Sandel, and Michael Walzer. They criticized liber-
encourage an ethic of responsibility (in contrast to alism for its failure to realize that people are
liberalism, where the concept of responsibility has socially ‘‘situated’’ or contextualized, and its negli-
no major role). In a community there is an irre- gence of the greater common good in favor of
pressible tension between exclusion and inclu- individualistic self-interests. In addition, as Chandran
sion, and between civility and piety. Thus commu- Kukathas relates in The Communitarian Challenge to
nity is not a restful idea, a realm of peace and Liberalism (Paul, Miller, Paul, eds. 1990, p.90),
harmony. On the contrary, competing principles communitarians argue that political community is
must be recognized and dealt with. an important value which is neglected by liberal
political theory. Liberalism, they contend, views
AUTHORITARIAN, POLITICAL political society as a supposedly neutral frame-
THEORETICAL, AND RESPONSIVE work of rules within which a diversity of moral
traditions coexist. . . .[Such a view] neglects the
COMMUNITARIANISM fact that people have, or can have, a strong and
‘deep’ attachment to their societies—to their
Different communitarian camps are no closer to nations.
one another than National Socialists (Nazis) are to
Scandinavian Social Democrats (also considered While for many outside sociology, especially
socialists). It is hence important to keep in mind until 1990, these three scholars were considered
which camp one is considering. The differences the founding fathers of communitarian thinking,
concern the normative relations between social none of them uses the term in their work, possi-
order and liberty, and the relations between the bly to avoid being confused with authoritarian
community and the individual. communitarians. These scholars almost complete-
ly ignored sociological works that preceded them,
Authoritarian Communitarians. Authoritari- and were largely ignored by sociologists.
an communitarians(some of whom are often re-
ferred to as ‘‘Asian’’ or ‘‘East Asian’’ communitarians) New or Responsive Communitarians. Early
are those who argue that to maintain social order in 1990, a school of communitarianism was found-
and harmony, individual rights and political liber- ed in which sociologists played a key role, although
ties must be curtailed. Some believe in the strong it included scholars from other disciplines such as
arm of the state (such as former Singapore Prime William A. Galston (political theory), Mary Ann
Minister Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysian head of Glendon (law), Thomas Spragens, Jr. (political
state Mahathir Bin Mohamad), and some in strong science), and Alan Ehrenhalt (writer) to mention
social bonds and the voice of the family and com- but a few. The group, founded by Amitai Etzioni,
munity (especially the kind of society Japan had, at took communitarianism from a small and some-
what esoteric academic discipline and introduced

356

COMMUNITARIANISM

it into public life, and recast its academic content. choices. The same might be said about reducing
Its tools were The Responsive Communitarian Plat- crime in American cities when it reached the point
form: Rights and Responsibilities, a joint manifesto where people did not venture into parks, and were
summarizing the guiding principles of the group; reluctant to ride the subway or walk the streets
an intellectual quarterly, The Responsive Communi- after dark. Moreover, totalitarian regimes, the ulti-
ty, whose editors include several sociologists; sev- mate loss of freedom, are said to arise when order
eral books; position papers on issues ranging from is minimized.
a communitarian view of the family to organ do-
nation and to bicultural education; and numer- While up to a point social order and liberty
ous public conferences, op-eds, and a web site enhance one another, if the level of social order
(www.gwu.edu/~ccps). is increased further and further, responsive
communitarians expect it to reach a level where it
Key Assumptions and Concepts. Responsive will erode people’s liberty. And, if the scope of
communitarianism methodologically is based on liberty is extended ever more, it will reach a point
the macro-sociological assumption that societies where it will undermine the social order. This idea
have multiple and not wholly compatible needs is expressed in the term inverting symbiosis, which
and values, in contrast to philosophies that derive indicates that up to a point liberty and order
their core assumptions from one overarching prin- nourish one another, and beyond it they turn
ciple, for instance liberty for libertarianism. Re- antagonistic.
sponsive communitarianism assumes that a ‘‘good
society’’ is based on a carefully crafted balance The same point applies to the relationship
between liberty and social order, between indi- between the self and the community. Political
vidual rights and social responsibilities, between theorists have tended to depict the self as ‘‘encum-
particularistic (ethnic, racial, communal) and so- bered,’’ ‘‘situated,’’or ‘‘contextualized,’’all of which
ciety-wide values and bonds. In that sense, far from imply that it is constrained by social order. Re-
representing a Western model, the communitarian sponsive communitarians stress that individuals
good society combines ‘Asian’ values (also reflect- within communities are able to be more reason-
ing tenets of Islam and Judaism that stress social able and productive than isolated individuals, but
responsibilities) with a Western concern with po- if social pressure to conform reaches a high level,
litical liberty and individual rights. such pressures undermine the development and
expression of the self.
While the model of the good society is applica-
ble to all societies, communitarianism stresses that The next question is: Under what conditions
different societies, during various historical peri- can the zone of symbiosis be expanded, and that of
ods, may be off balance in rather contrasting ways antagonism between liberty and order be mini-
and hence may need to move in different directions mized? To answer that question the communitarian
in order to approximate the same balance. Thus, view of human nature must be introduced. While
contemporary East Asian societies require much sociologists tend to avoid this term, on the grounds
greater tolerance for individual and communal that it is not testible and can lead to racism (as
differences, while in the American society—espe- evident in the notion that some groups of people
cially at the end of the 1980s—excessive individu- are more intelligent by nature), communitarians
alism needs to be reigned in. To put it differently, use the term with less reluctance.
communitarianism suggests that the specific nor-
mative directives that flow from the good society The view of human nature most compatible
model are historically and culturally contingent. with responsive communitarian thinking is a dy-
namic (developmental) view, which holds that peo-
Responsive communitarians stress that the ple at birth are akin to animals. But unlike social
relationship between liberty and social order is not conservatives, who tend to embrace a dour view of
a zero-sum situation; up to a point they are mutual- human nature, and tend to view even adults after
ly supportive. Thus, in situations such as those socialization as impulsive, irrational, dangerous,
prevailing in late-1990s Moscow, where liberty and or sinful—communitarians maintain that people
social order are neglected, increasing order might can become increasingly virtuous if the proper
well also enhance people’s autonomy and life processes of value-internalization and reinforce-
ment of undergirding social institutions, the ‘‘moral

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infrastructure,’’ are in place. At the same time, In general, the weaker the community—because
communitarians do not presume that people can of high population turnover, few shared core val-
be made as virtuous as liberals assume them to be ues, high heterogeneity, etc.—the thinner the so-
from the onset. (Liberals tend to assume that cial web and the slacker the moral voice. The
crime and forms of deviant behavior reflect social strength of the moral voice and the values it speaks
conditions, especially government interventions for have been studied using a series of questions
that pervert good people, rather than criminals’ such as, Should one speak up if child abuse is
innate nature.) witnessed? Or if children are seen painting swasti-
kas? What about less dire situations, such as insist-
The moral infrastructure, an essential founda- ing that friends wear their seatbelts, or admonish-
tion of a good society, draws on four social forma- ing a nondisabled person one witnesses parking in
tions: families, schools, communities, and the com- a handicap space?
munity of communities. The four core elements of
the moral infrastructure are arranged like Chinese Informal surveys show that Americans in the
nesting boxes, one within the other, and in a 1980s were very reluctant to raise their moral
sociological progression. Infants are born into voice; many accepted the liberal ideology that
families, which communitarians stress have been what is morally sound is to be determined by each
entrusted throughout human history with begin- individual, and one should not pass judgments
ning the process of instilling values and launching over others. Alan Wolfe’s study, One Nation After
the moral self. Schools join the process as children All, found that Americans, even in conservative
grow older, further developing the moral self (‘‘char- parts of the country, have grown very tolerant of a
acter’’), or trying to remedy character neglect great variety of social behavior. Increase in toler-
suffered under family care. Schools are hence ance is of course by itself virtuous; communitarians,
viewed not merely or even primarily as places of though, raise the question: At which point does
teaching, where the passing of knowledge and such increased tolerance engendering an amoral
skills occur, but as educational institutions in the culture where spousal abuse, discrimination, child
broadest sense of the term. neglect, drunk drivers, obsessive materialism, and
other forms of antisocial behavior become matters
Human nature, communitarians note, is such the community should ignore, leaving them to
that even if children are reared in families dedicat- individual discretion or the law.
ed to child raising and moral education, and child-
ren graduate from strong and dedicated schools, More specifically, communitarians inquire vari-
these youngsters are still not sufficiently equipped ous elements of the moral infrastructure whether
for a good, communitarian society. This is a point they reinforce, neglect, or undermine it. In this
ignored by social philosophers who often assume context, the special communitarian perspective of
that once people have acquired virtue and are voluntary associations is especially important. Pre-
habituated, they will be guided by their inner viously, the significance of these associations has
moral compass. The very concept of ‘‘conscience’’ been highlighted as protecting individuals from
assumes the formation of a perpetual inner gyroscope. the state (a protection they would not have if they
faced the state as isolated or ‘‘atomized’’ individu-
In contrast, communitarians—following stand- als), and as intermediating bodies that aggregate,
ard sociological positions—assume that the good transmit, and underwrite individual signals to
character of those who have acquired it tends to the state.
degrade. If left to their own devices, individuals
gradually lose much of their commitments to their Communitarians argue that, in addition, the
values, unless these are continuously reinforced. A very same voluntary associations often fulfill a
major function of the community, as a building rather different role: They serve as social spaces in
block of the moral infrastructure, is to reinforce which members of communities reinforce their
the character of its members. This is achieved by social webs and articulate their moral voice. That
the community’s ‘‘moral voice,’’ the informal sanc- is, voluntary associations often constitute a basis of
tion of others, built into a web of informal affect- communal relationships. Thus, the members of a
laden relationships, which communities provide. local chapter of the Masons, Elks, or Lions care

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about one another and reinforce each other’s Communitarians argue that one should not
particular brand of conservative views. Similarly, view society as composed of millions of individu-
the members of the New York City Reform Clubs, als, but as pluralism within unity. They further
Americans for Democratic Action, and local chap- maintain that subcultures and loyalties are not a
ters of the ACLU reinforce one another’s particu- threat to the integrity of society as long as a core of
lar brand of liberal views. shared values and institutions (such as the Consti-
tution and its Bill of Rights, the democratic way of
Communitarians pay special attention to the life, and mutual tolerance) are respected.
condition of public spaces as places communities
happen (as distinct from private places like homes Communitarians draw on the four elements
and cars). Even though one may carpool with of the moral infrastructure—families, schools, com-
friends or have them over for a visit, these are munities, and communities of communities—as
mainly activities of small friendship groups (what a sort of a checklist to help determine the state
Robert Putnam calls ‘‘bowling alone’’). Communi- of the moral infrastructure in a given society.
ties need more encompassing webs, and those are They argue that the decline of the two-parent
formed and reinforced in public gathering places— family (due to high divorce rates, growing legitimation
from school assembly halls to parks, from plazas to of single-parent families, and psychological
promenades. To the extent that these spaces be- disinvestment of parents in children), the deterio-
come unsafe, communities lose one of their major ration of schools (due to automatic promotions
sources of reinforcement; recapturing them for and deterioration of social order in schools), the
community use is hence a major element of com- decline of communities (due to modernization),
munity regeneration. and the decline of the community of communities
(as a result of excessive emphasis on diversity
Most important, drawing again on sociolo- without parallel concern over shared bonds) re-
gy, and particularly on what has been called the sulted in the decline of moral and social order
‘‘consensus’’ rather then the ‘‘conflict’’) model, in the American society during the 1970s and
communitarians tend to maintain that if in addi- 1980s. This was evidenced by the sharp rise in
tion to strong families and schools that build violent crime, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, and in
character, a society has communities, where social the decline of voluntarism, among other factors.
webs are intact and thats moral voice is clearly The fact that some of these trends slowed down
articulate, that society will be able to base its and reversed in the 1990s is viewed in part by
social order largely on moral commitments rather communitarians as a reflection of changes in social
than the forces of the state. This is the case, thinking and practices they helped champion.
communitarians argue, drawing on sociological
assumptions and studies, because once moral com- Here lies a great difference between the
mitments are internalized and reinforced they communitarian position and that of various relig-
help shape people’s preferences in favor of prosocial ious social conservatives. Both groups recognize
behavior—thus reducing the need for coercion by the need to regenerate the moral infrastructure,
the state and diminishing the tension between but conservatives favor returning to traditional
liberty and social order. social formations while communitarians point to
new ways of shoring up society’s ethical frame-
Many discussions of community and of the work. For instance, many social conservatives fa-
moral infrastructure stop at this point, having vor women ‘‘graciously submitting to their hus-
explored the moral agency of family, school, and bands’’ and returning to homemaking, while
community. However, social and moral communi- communitarians argue for peer marriage, a con-
ties are not freestanding; they are often parts of cept introduced by Pepper Schwartz. Peer mar-
more encompassing social entities. Moreover, riage suggests equal rights and responsibilities for
communitarians note that unless communities are mothers and fathers, but favors marriages that last,
bound socially and morally into more encompass- as compared to the liberal argument that single-
ing entities, they may war with one another. Hence, parent families or child care centers can socialize
the importance of communities of communities, the children as well if not better than two-parent fami-
society. lies. (Among the sociologists who have struck a

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communitarian position in this matter are Linda Communitarians stress that mutuality, rather
Waite, Glen Elder, Alice Rossi, and David Popenoe). than charity, is the basis for community-wide ac-
tion that is not solely limited to helping one par-
The communitarian argument over the role of ticular vulnerable group or another. The CPR
communities in maintaining social order is strong- training of some 400,000 Seattle citizens, who are
ly supported by sociological research of the kind thus able to help one another without public costs
conducted by Robert Sampson on the role of or private charges, is held up as a key case in point.
communities in fighting crime and drug abuse. Other examples include voluntary recycling pro-
David Karp and Todd Clear have also studied grams, crime watch patrols, and above all the
community involvement in criminal justice, focus- massive assistance given to immigrants by mem-
ing on ideas of restorative justice and policies that bers of their own ethnic group. Communitarians
are concerned more with reintegrating offenders have also pointed to the importance of a culture of
into their communities than merely punishing them. civility in maintaining a society’s ability to work out
differences without excessive conflict.
Other communitarian themes examined by
sociologists include topics explored by Edward W. Communitarians have argued that a civic so-
Lehman, especially his writing on macro-sociolo- ciety is good, but not good enough. Civic society
gy; Martin Whyte’s work on the family; and Rich- tends to be morally neutral on many matters other
ard Coughlin’s comparison of communitarian think- than values concerning its own inherent virtue and
ing to socioeconomics. the attributes citizens need to make them into
effective members of a civic society, for instance,
CIVIL SOCIETY, THE THIRD WAY, AND to be able to think critically. Thus, all voluntary
THE GOOD SOCIETY associations, from the KKK to the Urban League,
from militias to Hadassah, are considered to have
Much of the normative debate in the West, at least the same basic standing. In contrast, a good society
since the middle of the nineteenth century, has seeks to promote a core of substantive values, and
focused on the merit of the free market (or capital- thus views some social associations and activities as
ism) versus the role of the state in securing the more virtuous than others. In the same vein,
citizens’ well-being. Communitarians have basical- communitarians have stressed that while every-
ly leapfrogged this debate, focusing instead on the one’s legal right to free speech should be respect-
importance of the third element of social life, that ed, there is no denying that some speech—seen
of the civic society, which is neither state nor from the community’s viewpoint—is morally sound
market. Communitarians have played a key role in while other speech is abhorrent. For instance, the
the debate over the condition of civic society in the (legal) right to speak does not make hate speech
West, such as examining whether participation in (morally) right. Communitarians would not seek
voluntary associations, voting, and trust in institu- to suppress hate speech by legal means, however,
tions have declined, and to what effect. The work but they urge communities to draw on their moral
of Robert Bellah and his associates has been par- voice to chastise those who speak in ways that are
ticularly influential here, demonstrating the rise of offensive.
first expressive and then instrumental individual-
ism, and their ill effects. CRITICS AND RESPONSES

Communitarians have argued that rather than Critics of responsive communitarianism argue that
dumping people (often the most vulnerable mem- the concept of community is vague; indeed that
bers of society) into the marketplace as the welfare the term ‘‘community’’ itself cannot be well de-
state is curtailed, civic society’s various institutions fined. In response, community has been defined as
can empower these individuals to help one anoth- a combination of two elements: a) A web of affect-
er in attending to some of their social needs. laden relationships among a group of individuals,
Communal institutions (including places of wor- relationships that often crisscross and reinforce
ship) can shoulder important parts of care previ- one another (rather than merely one-on-one or
ously provided by state agencies, although the chainlike individual relationships)and b) A meas-
state will have to continue to shoulder an impor- ure of commitment to a set of shared values,
tant part of the burden.

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norms, and meanings, and a shared history and as a set of commitments to the overarching society
identity to a particular culture. is upheld.

Some critics also contend that the quest for VALUES AND VIRTUES
community is anachronistic, that contemporary
societies are urban and populations geographical- While sociologists greatly altered and enriched
ly highly mobile, and thus bereft of community. communitarian thinking, communitarian think-
Communitarians respond that communities exist ing’s main contribution to sociology is the chal-
in contemporary societies in small towns, suburbs, lenge of facing issues raised by the moral standing
campuses and within city neighborhoods, often of various values, and the related question of cross-
based on ethnic ties in places such as Korea Town cultural moral judgments. Sociologists tend to
in Los Angeles, Little Italy in New York City, the treat all values as conceptually equal; a sociologist
Irish section of South Boston, and so on. Moreo- may refer to racist Afrikaners’ beliefs and to hu-
ver, communitarians point out that communities manitarian beliefs using the same ‘‘neutral’’ term,
need not be geographic, members can be spread calling both ‘‘values.’’ Communitarians use the
among nonmembers. For instance, homosexual term virtue to denote that some values (or belief
groups often constitute communities even if they systems) have a higher standing than others be-
are not all neighbors. cause they are compatible with the good society,
while other values are not (and hence aberrant).
Critics maintain that communities are authori-
tarian and oppressive, and have charged In the same vein, communitarians do not shy
communitarians with seeking ‘‘Salem without witch- away from passing cross-cultural moral judgments,
es.’’ Communitarians respond that communities rejecting cultural relativism’s claim that all cul-
vary regarding this assessment. Contemporary com- tures have basically equal moral standing. Thus,
munities tend to be relatively freer, given the they view female circumcision, sex slaves, and
relative ease of intercommunity mobility as well as hudud (chopping off the right hand of thieves) as
shifting loyalties and psychic investments among violations of liberty and individual rights, and
various groups of which the same person is a member. abandoning children, violating implicit contracts
built into communal mutuality, or neglecting the
Critics also maintain that communities are environment, as evidence of a lack of commitment
exclusionary, and hence bigoted. Communitarians to social order and neglect of social responsibilities.
respond that communities must respect the laws
of the society in which they are situated, but do IMPACT
tend to thrive on a measure of homogeneity and
on people’s desire to be with others of their own So far this examination has focused on the place of
kind. Moreover, given the human benefit of com- communitarian thinking in academic, conceptual,
munity membership, a measure of self-segregation theoretical, and imperial works. Responsive
should be tolerated. communitarians have also been playing a consid-
erable public role, presenting themselves as the
Critics of responsive communitarianism claim founders of a new kind of environmental move-
that communitarians ignore matters of power and ment, one dedicated to shoring up society (not the
injustice as well as economic considerations, and state) rather than nature. Like environmentalism,
are generally inclined to adopt a consensus rather communitarianism appeals to audiences across
than a conflict model. Communitarians agree that the political spectrum, although it has found great-
they ought to pay more attention to the effects of er acceptance with some groups rather than oth-
these factors on communities. However, they do ers. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is report-
envision the possibilities of conflict within com- ed to have adopted the communitarian platform,
munities, and responsive communitarians do pro- and German Social Democrat Rudolf Scharping
pose that one should not treat conflict and com- has suggested that his party should meet the
munity as mutually exclusive. Extending this idea communitarians ‘‘half way.’’ President Bill Clinton
to the treatment of diversity and multiculturalism, and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton (author of It
communitarians argue in favor of a society in
which many differences can be celebrated as long

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Takes a Village) have combined communitarian Selznick, Philip 1992 The Moral Commonwealth. Berke-
with welfare-liberal themes. Among conservatives, ley: University of California Press.
Jack Kemp, a group of Tory members of the
British parliament (especially David Willet), and The Responsive Community: Rights and Responsibilities, a
German governor Kurt Biedenkopf are often list- quarterly journal.
ed as influenced by communitarianism. While this
is only a partial list, it serves to illustrate the scope AMITAI ETZIONI
of communitarianism’s influence and its cross over
traditional ideological lines. COMMUNITY

Communitarian terms have become part of The sociology of community has been a dominant
the public vocabulary in the 1990s, especially ref- source of sociological inquiry since the earliest
erences to ‘‘assuming responsibilities to match days of the discipline. Each of the three most
rights,’’ while ‘‘communitarianism’’ itself is used influential nineteenth century sociologists (Marx,
much less often. The number of articles about Durkheim, and Weber) regarded the social trans-
communitarian thinking in the popular press in- formation of community in its various forms to be
creased twelvefold during the last decade of the a fundamental problem of sociology and sociologi-
twentieth century. The increase in the number of cal theory. Thomas Bender (1978) suggests that as
books, articles, and Ph.D. dissertations in acade- early social thinkers observed the disruption of the
mia for the same period, has been about eightfold. traditional social order and traditional patterns of
Interestingly, taking communitarianism from aca- social life associated with industrialization, urbani-
demia to the ‘‘streets’’ in the early 1990s resulted zation, and the rise of capitalism, significant atten-
in the middle and late 1990s into a significant tion was focused on the social transformation of
increase in acasemic interest. In the process, bridges community and communal life. It should be em-
have been built between social philosophers, soci- phasized that contemporary sociology remains, at
ologists, and community members and leaders, its core, a discipline largely concerned with the
although they still sometimes travel on parallel definition and persistence of community as a form
rather than convergent pathways. of social organization, social existence, and social
experience.
An extensive bibliography of communitarian works is
also listed on The Communitarian Network’s website, The definition of community in sociology has
http:www.gwu.edu/~ccps. been problematic for several reasons, not the least
of which has been nostalgic attachment to the
REFERENCES idealized notion that community is embodied in
the village or small town where human associa-
Bellah, Robert et al.1991 The Good Society. New York: Knopf. tions are characterized as Gemeinschaft: that is,
associations that are intimate, familiar, sympathet-
——— 1986 Habits of the Heart. New York: Harper & ic, mutually interdependent, and reflective of a
Row. shared social consciousness (in contrast to rela-
tionships that are Gesellschaft—casual, transitory,
Coughlin, Richard 1991 Morality, Rationality, and Effi- without emotional investment, and based on self-
ciency: New Perspectives on Socio-economics. Armonk. interest). According to this traditional concept of
N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe. community, the requirements of community or
communal existence can be met only in the con-
Etzioni, Amitai 1998 The Essential Communitarian Read- text of a certain quality of human association
er. New York: Roman & Littlefield. occurring within the confines of limited, shared
physical territory.
——— 1996 The New Golden Rule. New York: Basic Books.
The classic perspective on community offered
——— 1995 New Communitarian Thinking. Charlottes- by Carle Zimmerman (1938) is consistent with this
ville, Va.: The University of Virginia Press. theme, in that the basic four characteristics argued
by Zimmerman to define community (social fact,
——— 1993 The Spirit of Community. New York: Touchstone.

Paul, Ellen Franken, Fred Miller, Jr., and Jeffrey Paul
(eds.) 1996 The Communitarian Challenge to Liberal-
ism. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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specification, association, and limited area) re- sought to address some if not all of these issues.
quire a territorial context. George Hillary (1955), The most famous and controversial include Rob-
in a content analysis of ninety-four definitions of ert and Helen Lynd’s Middletown studies (1929,
community advanced in sociological literature, 1937) and the Yankee City series by W. Lloyd
discovered basic consensus on only three definitional Warner and his associates (1963). The more well-
elements: social interaction between people, one known studies that have focused on the problem
or more shared ties, and an area context. Howev- of community within large cities have included
er, Hillary noted that area context was the least William Whyte’s Street Corner Society and Gerald
required of these three definitional elements. Oth- Suttles’s The Social Order of the Slum, which them-
ers (e.g., Lindeman 1930; Bender 1978; McMillan selves are aligned with earlier Robert Park and
and Chavis 1986) argue that community can be Ernest Burgess conceptions of the ‘‘natural com-
achieved independently of territorial context where munity’’ arising within the confines of a seemingly
social networks exist sufficiently to sustain a faceless, anonymous, large city (Suttles 1972, pp.
Gemeinschaft quality of interaction and association. 7–9). Descriptive studies that emphasize field work
According to this point of view, territory is neither and examine social structure as a spatial phenome-
a necessary nor a sufficient condition to define the non are the hallmark of the highly influential
existence of community. In this vein, David McMillan Chicago School that arose and flourished under
and David Chavis suggest a state of community Robert Park and Ernest Burgess of the University
exists when four elements co-exist: membership, of Chicago Department of Sociology during the
influence, integration and fulfillment of needs, 1920s and 1930s.
and shared emotional connections. They argue
that communities can be defined either in rela- Robert and Helen Lynd carried out two stud-
tional terms or territorial terms as long as these ies (1929, 1937) involving extensive personal field
four elements are present together. work on the town of Muncie, Indiana: Middletown
(1929) and Middletown in Transition (1937). In the
MAJOR QUESTIONS IN THE SOCIOLOGY first Middletown study, the Lynds spent the years
OF COMMUNITY 1924–1925 participating in and observing the com-
munity life of Middletown (population 36,500),
The major questions that concern the sociology of and performing extensive survey work. Their ob-
community include the distinguishing characteris- jective was to address all aspects of social life and
tics and definition of community, the bases of social structure of the community. A fundamental
communal experience and integration, the unique focus of the Lynds’ earlier analysis concerned the
functions and tasks of community, the units of consequences of technological change (industri-
social structure within the community and the alization) on the social structure of Middletown, in
relationships and interactions between structural particular the emergence of social class conflicts
units, the economic and social bases of the com- subsequent to turn-of-the-century industrialization.
munity social structure, the relationship and dis-
tinction between internal community social struc- Although the Lynds found distinctions be-
ture and macrosocial structures external to the tween the living conditions and opportunity struc-
community, the relationship between individual tures of business and working-class families that
experience and behavior and communal experi- were consistent with their Marxist expectations
ence and behavior, the causes and processes of (i.e., children of the working class were more likely
transformation from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft to drop out of school to help support the family,
states of social existence, and processes of commu- working-class families labored longer hours for
nity persistence and adaptation in the face of less pay and less financial security, and living con-
social change. ditions in general were more harsh for working-
class families), they failed to discover a disparate
COMMUNITY STUDIES value structure or alienation among the working
class. At all levels of social class, the Middletown of
Community studies undertaken by sociologists 1925 shared a common conservative value struc-
over the past sixty years have to a large extent ture that entailed self-reliance, faith in the future,
and a belief in hard work. The subsequent study,
undertaken in 1935 by Robert Lynd and a staff of

363