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 Contents vii

A Defining Moment: Rosa Parks: Housework 115

Saying No to Segregation 76 Violence against Women 115
Pluralism 76 Sexual Harassment 116
The Social Standing of U.S. Minorities 77 Sexuality, Beauty, and Reproduction 117
Native Americans 77 Women: A Majority Minority? 117
African Americans 78 Theories of Gender Inequality 118
Asian Americans 80 Structural-Functional Analysis: Gender
Hispanic Americans/Latinos 81 and Complementarity 118
Arab Americans 83 Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: Gender
Prejudice 84 in Everyday Life 119
Stereotypes 84 Social-Conflict Analysis: Gender and Inequality 119
Racism 85 Intersection Theory: The Case of Minority Women 120
Measuring Prejudice: The Social Distance Scale 85 Feminism 121
Institutional Racism: The Case of Racial Profiling 86 Feminist Foundations 121
Causes of Prejudice 87 Types of Feminism 122
Multiculturalism 87 A Defining Moment: Elizabeth Cady Stanton:
Discrimination 87 Claiming Women’s Right to Equality 122
Institutional Discrimination 88 Politics and Gender: Constructing Problems
Prejudice and Discrimination: A Vicious Circle 88 and Defining Solutions 125
Microaggression 88 Conservatives: The Value of Families 125
Affirmative Action: Reverse Discrimination Liberals: The Pursuit of Equality 125
or Cure for Prejudice? 89 The Radical Left: Change the System 126
Theories of Racial and Ethnic Inequality 90 Going On from Here 127
Structural-Functional Analysis: Defining Solutions 128
The Importance of Culture 90 Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 129
Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: The Personal Making the Grade: Visual Summary 130
Meaning of Race 91
Social-Conflict Analysis: The Structure of Inequality 91 5 Aging and Inequality 132
Politics, Race, and Ethnicity: Constructing
Constructing the Problem 134
Problems and Defining Solutions 93
Growing Old 135
Conservatives: Culture and Effort Matter 93
Industrialization and Aging 135
Liberals: Society and Government Matter 94
Life Expectancy 137
The Radical Left: Fundamental Changes Are Needed 94
Going On from Here 94 The Graying of the United States 137
Elders: A Diverse Population 138
Defining Solutions 96
Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 97 Problems of Aging 139
Social Isolation 139
Making the Grade: Visual Summary 98
Retirement 139
4 Gender Inequality 100 Ageism 140
Victimization of the Elderly 142
Constructing the Problem 102
The Growing Need for Caregiving 143
What Is Gender? 103 Poverty 143
Patriarchy 103 Age Stratification 144
The Problem of Sexism 104 Housing 144
Gender and Social Institutions 105 Medical Care 146
Gender and the Family 105 Death and Dying 146
Gender and Education 105 A Defining Moment: A Good Death:
Gender and the Mass Media 106 Cicely Saunders and the Birth of Hospice 149
Gender and Politics 107 Theories of Aging and Inequality 149
Gender and Religion 108 Structural-Functional Theory: The Need to Disengage 149
Gender and the Military 109 Symbolic-Interaction Theory: Staying Active 150
Gender and Work 110 Social-Conflict Theory: Age and Economic Inequality 151
Gender Stratification 111 Feminist Theory: Aging and Gender 151
Income 112 Intersection Theory: Multiple Disadvantages 152
viii Contents

Politics and Aging: Constructing Problems Social-Conflict Analysis: Crime and Inequality 190
and Defining Solutions 152 Feminist Analysis: Crime and Gender 191
Conservatives: More Family Responsibility 152 Politics and Crime: Constructing Problems
Liberals: More Government Assistance 154 and Defining Solutions 191
The Radical Left: Capitalism and the Elderly 154 Conservatives: Crime, Violence, and Morality 192
Going On from Here 155 Liberals: Crime, Violence, and Jobs 192
Defining Solutions 156 The Radical Left: Crime and Inequality 192
Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 157 Going On from Here 193
Making the Grade: Visual Summary 158 Defining Solutions 194
Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 195
Making the Grade: Visual Summary 196
Part iii Problems of Deviance,
Conformity, and Well-Being 7 Sexuality 198
6 Crime, Violence, and Criminal Constructing the Problem 200

Justice 160 What Is Sex? 201

Sex: A Biological Issue 201
Constructing the Problem 162 Sex: A Cultural Issue 201
Understanding Crime 163 Sexual Attitudes in the United States 201
Norms, Law, and Crime 163 The Sexual Revolution 202
Crime Statistics 163 A Defining Moment: Alfred Kinsey:
Violent Crime: Patterns and Trends 164 Talking Openly about Sex 202
Property Crime: Patterns and Trends 166 The Sexual Counterrevolution 203
“Street Crime”: Who Are the Criminals? 168 The Continuing Sexual Revolution:
Other Dimensions of the Crime Problem 169 Older People 203
Juvenile Delinquency 169 Sexual Orientation 204
Hate Crimes 170 Homosexuality 204
White-Collar Crime 170 What Determines Sexual Orientation? 205
Corporate Crime 171 Homosexuality and Public Policy 207
Organized Crime 172 Same-Sex Marriage 208
Victimless Crime 172 The Gay Rights Movement 208
Violence 173 The Transgender Movement 208
Is Violence a Social Problem? 173 Sexual Issues and Controversies 209
A Defining Moment: U.S. Society Discovers Child Abuse 174 Pornography 209
Serious Violence: Mass Murder and Serial Killings 175 Sexual Harassment 211
The Mass Media and Violence 176 Prostitution 212
Poverty and Violence 176 Teenage Pregnancy 215
Youth Gangs and Violence 177 Abortion 217
Drugs and Violence 177 Sexually Transmitted Diseases 218
Guns and Violence 177 Theories of Sexuality 221
The Criminal Justice System 179 Structural-Functional Analysis: Controlling
Due Process 179 Sexuality 221
Police 180 Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: Defining Sexuality 221
Courts 180 Social-Conflict Analysis: Feminist Theory
Punishment 181 and Queer Theory 222
Community–Based Corrections 183 Politics and Sexuality: Constructing Problems
and Defining Solutions 223
Explaining Crime: Biological and Psychological Theories 185
Conservatives: The Value of Traditional Morality 223
Biological Causes 185
Liberals: Sex and Individual Choice 224
Psychological Causes 186
The Radical Left: Go to the Root of the Problem 224
Explaining Crime: Sociological Theories 187
Going On from Here 225
Structural-Functional Analysis: Why Society
Creates Crime 187 Defining Solutions 226
Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: Socially Constructing Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 227
Reality 189 Making the Grade: Visual Summary 228
 Contents ix

8 Alcohol and Other Drugs 230 Health Policy: Paying for Care
Socialist Systems 268
267

Constructing the Problem 232 Capitalist Systems 269

What Is a Drug? 233 Health Care in the United States: A System in Crisis? 270
Drugs and Culture 233 The Cost Problem 271
Drugs, Race, and Ethnicity 234 Who Pays? 272
Changing Views of Alcohol 234 The Coverage Problem 273
The Extent of Drug Use 235 The 2010 Health Care Law 273
Why Do People Use Drugs? 235 Health: Class, Ethnicity, and Race 274
Use and Abuse 236 Health: Rural and Urban Places 275
Addiction and Dependency 236 Health: The Importance of Gender 275
Types of Drugs 236 People with Disabilities 276
Stimulants 236 The Nursing Shortage 277
Depressants 239 Mental Health and Illness 278
Hallucinogens 241 Types of Mental Disorders 278
Cannabis 241 Mental Illness: A Myth? 278
Steroids 242 Mental Illness: Class, Race, and Gender 279
Prescription Drugs 242 Treatment Strategies 280
Drugs and Other Social Problems 242 A Defining Moment: Dorothea Dix:
Problems of Family Life 243 Mentally Ill People Deserve Our Help 281
Homelessness 243 Mental Illness on Campus 282
Health Problems 243 Theories of Health and Illness 283
Crime 244 Structural-Functional Analysis: Health and Social Roles 283
Global Poverty 245 Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: The Meaning of Health 283
Terrorism 245 Social-Conflict Analysis: Health and Inequality 284
Social Policy: Responding to the Drug Problem 245 Feminist Analysis: Health and Gender 284
Strategies to Control Drugs 245 Politics and Health: Constructing Problems
The War on Drugs 247 and Defining Solutions 285
A Defining Moment: Bill Wilson: Conservatives: Free Markets Provide the Best Care 285
Alcoholics Can Learn to Be Sober 247 Liberals: Government Must Ensure Universal Care 286
A New Initiative: Decriminalization 249 The Radical Left: Capitalism Is Unhealthy 286
Theories of Drug-Related Social Problems 253 Going On from Here 287
Structural-Functional Analysis: Regulating Drug Use 253 Defining Solutions 288
Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: The Meaning Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 289
of Drug Use 253 Making the Grade: Visual Summary 290
Social-Conflict Analysis: Power and Drug Use 254
Politics and Drugs: Constructing Problems Part iv Problems of Social Institutions
and Defining Solutions 254
Conservatives: Just Say No 254
10 Economy and Politics 292
Liberals: Reform Society 255 Constructing the Problem 294
Radicals: Understanding Drugs from the Margins Economic Systems: Defining Justice, Defining Problems 295
of Society 255 The Capitalist Model 295
Going On from Here 256 The Socialist Model 296
Defining Solutions 258 Mixed Systems 296
Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 259 The Economy and Politics 298
Making the Grade: Visual Summary 260 A Defining Moment Store Wars:

9 Physical and Mental Health 262

Is Walmart the Problem or the Solution?
Democracy 300
299

Constructing the Problem 264 Authoritarianism and Monarchy 300

Health and Illness: A Global Perspective 265 Problems of the U.S. Political Economy 300
High-Income Nations 265 The Power of Corporations 300
Low-Income Nations 265 Monopoly and Oligopoly 301
Rich and Poor Compared: The AIDS Epidemic 266 Conglomerates and Other Linkages 302
x Contents

The Power of Money 303 Politics and the Workplace: Constructing Problems
Campaign Financing 303 and Defining Solutions 340
Voter Apathy 304 Conservatives: Look to the Market 340
Who Votes? Class, Age, Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 306 Liberals: Look to Government 341
The Gender Gap: Seeing Problems Differently 306 The Radical Left: Basic Change is Needed 342
Voting Laws for Persons Convicted of Serious Crimes 307 Going On from Here 342
Social Movements: How Much Change? 307 Defining Solutions 344
Theories of Economic and Political Problems 308 Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 345
Structural-Functional Analysis: Rule by the Many 308 Making the Grade: Visual Summary 346
Social-Conflict Analysis: Rule by the Few 309
Politics and the Economy: Constructing Problems 12 Family Life 348
and Defining Solutions 310 Constructing the Problem 350
Conservatives: The System Is Working 310 What Is a Family? 351
Liberals: The Need for Reform 311 Debate over Definitions 351
The Radical Left: A Call for Basic Change 311 A Sociological Approach to Family Problems 352
Going On from Here 312
Family Life: Changes and Controversies 352
Defining Solutions 314 Living Together: Do We Need to Marry? 352
Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 315 Postponing Marriage 353
Making the Grade: Visual Summary 316 Parenting: Is One Parent Enough? 353

11 Work and the Workplace 318

Families, Race, and Poverty 353
Conflict between Work and Family Life 354
Constructing the Problem 320 Child Care 355
Structural Changes in the U.S. Economy 321 Divorce 356
The Industrial Revolution 321 Child Support 359
The Information Revolution 322 Remarriage: Problems of Blended Families 359
Deindustrialization 323 A Defining Moment: Same-Sex Marriage:
Globalization 323 The Massachusetts Decision 360
Other Problems of the U.S. Workplace 323 Gay and Lesbian Families 361
The Dual Labor Market 324 Brave New Families: High-Tech Reproduction 362
Danger to Workers 324 Theories of Families and Family Problems 363
Workplace Alienation 326 Structural-Functional Analysis: Family as Foundation 364
McDonaldization and “McJobs” 327 Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: Family and Learning 364
The Temping of the Workplace 327 Social-Conflict Analysis: Family and Social Class 364
Unemployment 328 Feminist Analysis: Family and Gender 365
The Problem of “Missing Workers” 329 Politics and Family Life: Constructing Problems
The “Low-Wage Recovery” 330 and Defining Solutions 366
Race, Ethnicity, and Gender 330 Conservatives: Traditional “Family Values” 366
Workplace Segregation 331 Liberals: Many Types of Families 367
Labor Unions 331 The Radical Left: Replace the Family 367
A Defining Moment: Eugene Debs: Going On from Here 368
Standing Up for the Union 333 Defining Solutions 370
New Information Technology: Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 371
The Brave New Workplace 335 Making the Grade: Visual Summary 372
The Home as Workplace 335
Workplace Isolation 336 13 Education 374
Workplace Supervision 337
The “Deskilling” of Workers 337 Constructing the Problem 376
Theories of Work and Work-Related Problems 337 Problems of Education: A Global Perspective 377
Structural-Functional Analysis: Finding Low-Income Countries: Too Little Schooling 377
a New Equilibrium 337 High-Income Countries: Unequal Schooling 378
Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: The Meaning of Work 338 Education in U.S. History 378
Social-Conflict Analysis: Work and Inequality 339 Problems with U.S. Education 380
Feminist Analysis: Work and Gender 339 The Academic Performance of U.S. Schools 380
 Contents xi

Academic Performance: Race, Class, and Gender 380 Structural-Functional Analysis: A Theory of Urbanism 417
The Effects of Home and School 381 Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: Experiencing the City 419
Dropping Out 381 Social-Conflict Analysis: Cities and Inequality 420
Functional Illiteracy 382 Politics and Urban Life: Constructing
School Segregation and Busing 382 Problems and Defining Solutions 421
A Defining Moment: Linda Brown: Conservatives: The Market and Morality 421
Fighting to Desegregate the Schools 383 Liberals: Government Reform 423
School Funding 384 The Radical Left: The Need for Basic Change 423
Tracking 386 Going On from Here 423
Gender Inequality 386 Defining Solutions 424
Immigration: Increasing Diversity 387 Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 425
Schooling People with Disabilities 388 Making the Grade: Visual Summary 426
Finding Enough Teachers 389
School Violence 389
Theories of Education and Education-Related Problems 390 Part v Global Problems
Structural-Functional Analysis: The Functions
of Schooling 390 15 Population and Global Inequality 428
Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: Labels in the Schools 391 Constructing the Problem 430
Social-Conflict Analysis: Schooling and Inequality 392 Global Population Increase 431
Feminist Analysis: Schooling and Gender 392 Population by the Numbers 431
Politics And Education: Constructing Problems Causes of Population Increase 431
and Defining Solutions 393 Measuring Population Increase 433
Conservatives: Increase Competition 393 The Low-Growth North 435
Liberals: Increase the Investment 395 The High-Growth South 435
The Radical Left: Attack Structural Inequality 396 The Social Standing of Women 435
Going On from Here 397 Explaining the Population Problem:
Defining Solutions 398 Malthusian Theory 435
Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 399 A Defining Moment: Thomas Robert Malthus:
Making the Grade: Visual Summary 400 Claiming Population Is a Problem 436
A More Recent Approach: Demographic
14 Urban Life 402 Transition Theory 437
Global Inequality 437
Constructing the Problem 404 High-Income Nations 438
Cities: Then and Now 405 Middle-Income Nations 439
Colonial Villages: 1565–1800 405 Low-Income Nations 439
Westward Expansion: 1800–1860 406 The World’s Poverty Problem 439
The Industrial Metropolis: 1860–1950 406 Poverty and Children 441
Postindustrial Cities and Suburbs: 1950–Present 407 Poverty and Women 441
Problems of Today’s Cities 407 Slavery 441
Fiscal Problems of the 1970s 407 Theories of Global Inequality 442
The Postindustrial Revival 407 Structural-Functional Analysis:
The Recent Recession and New Fiscal Problems 408 The Process of Modernization 442
Urban Sprawl 408 Social-Conflict Analysis: The Global
Edge Cities 409 Economic System 444
Poverty 409 Politics and Global Inequality: Constructing
Housing Problems 411 Problems and Defining Solutions 447
A Defining Moment: Jacob Riis: Conservatives: The Power of the Market 447
Revealing the Misery of the Tenements 412 Liberals: Governments Must Act 448
Racial Segregation 413 The Radical Left: End Global Capitalism 448
Homelessness 414 Going On from Here 449
Snowbelt and Sunbelt Cities 415 Defining Solutions 452
Cities in Poor Countries 415 Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 453
Theories of Urbanization and Urban Problems 417 Making the Grade: Visual Summary 454
xii Contents

16 Technology and the Environment 456 The Increasing Destruction of War

The Causes of War 484
483

Constructing the Problem 458 The Economic Costs of Militarism 485

Ecology: Studying the Natural Environment 459 The Economic Costs of War 485
The Role of Sociology 459 The Human Costs of War 486
The Global Dimension 459 Social Class and the Military 487
Population Increase 459 Mass Media and War 488
Poverty and Affluence 460 War in the Nuclear Age 489
Technology 461 Strategies for Peace 491
Cultural Patterns: Growth and Limits 462 Terrorism 492
Environmental Problems 463 A Defining Moment: Mohandas Gandhi:
Solid Waste: The Disposable Society 463 Sending a Message of Peace 493
A Defining Moment: Rachel Carson: The Extent of Terrorism 493
Sounding an Environmental Wake-Up Call 464 The Costs of Terrorism 495
Preserving Clean Water 465 Terrorism as a Type of War 495
Air Pollution 466 Strategies for Dealing with Terrorism 495
Acid Rain 467 Theories of War and Terrorism 497
The Disappearing Rain Forests 468 Biological Theories of Conflict 497
Climate Change 468 Structural-Functional Analysis: The Functions
Declining Biodiversity 469 of Conflict 497
Theories of the Environment and Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: The Meanings
Environmental Problems 469 of Conflict 498
Structural-Functional Analysis: Highlighting Social-Conflict Analysis: Inequality and Conflict 498
Connections 469 Politics and War: Constructing Problems
Social-Conflict Analysis: Highlighting Inequality 470 and Defining Solutions 499
Politics and the Environment: Constructing Problems Conservatives: Peace through Strength 499
and Defining Solutions 472 Liberals: The Dangers of Militarism 500
Conservatives: Grounds for Optimism 472 The Radical Left: Peace through Equality 501
Liberals: Grounds for Concern 473 Going On From Here 501
The Radical Left: Grounds for Fundamental Change 473 Defining Solutions 502
Going On from Here 474 Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 503
Defining Solutions 476 Making the Grade: Visual Summary 504
Getting Involved: Applications and Exercises 477
Making the Grade: Visual Summary 478 Glossary 506
References 511
17 War and Terrorism 480 Credits 547
Constructing the Problem 482 Name Index 549
War and Peace: Basic Definitions 483 Subject Index 555
What’s New in Social Problems,
Seventh Edition
Total updating of all data. There are more than one
thousand statistics in Social Problems. In the Seventh Edi-
tion, each one is new and the latest available.
Total updating of research. More than four hundred
new research citations support descriptions and analysis
in this revision.
The latest examples and illustrations. The issues dis-
cussed in the revised edition are recent and engaging, from
the Flint, Michigan, water crisis to #BlackLivesMatter, from
the Zika virus to the 2016 presidential election, from the
expanding transgender movement to increasing economic
inequality.
Important new topics. New discussions in this re-
vised edition include microaggression, white privilege,
sexuality issues on campus, and the expanding heroin
epidemic.
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xiii
Boxes
SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN FOCUS
Increasing Economic Inequality: When Does It Become Should You Prepare a Premarital Agreement? 392
a Problem? 37 Increasing Population: A Success Story or the
Let Them Stay or Make Them Go? The Debate over Greatest Crisis? 450
Unauthorized Immigrants 73 Getting Right with the Environment: How about You? 475
Sex Discrimination in the Workplace: The Hooters Has Our All-Volunteer Army Turned into a
Controversy 112 Warrior Caste? 488
Corporate Welfare: Government Handouts
for Big Business 301

SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

The Global Village: Problems around the World 13 Prostitutes and Johns in Sweden: Who Is Breaking
Sweden Tries to Take Gender Out of the Classroom 105 the Law? 213
Female Genital Mutilation: Using Violence to Children and Sex Tourism 214
Control Women 116 The Social Roots of AIDS: Poverty, Culture,
Will the Golden Years Lose Their Glow? Growing Old and Gender 268
in Japan 136 Sweatshop Safety: How Much Is a Life Worth? 445
Organized Crime: All Over the World 172 Turning the Tide: Reclaiming Solid Waste in Egypt 465

DIVERSITY: RACE, CLASS, & GENDER

The United States: A Land of Poor Children 44 The “Savage Inequalities” of Schooling in
Beauty: What’s It Really About? 116 the United States 385
Female, Male, or Something Else? Women, Power, and Contraception:
The Muxes of Mexico 206 The Key to Controlling Population 433
Reality Check: Five False Stereotypes Women in the Military: An Equal Right to Kill? 498
about African American Families 355

SOCIAL POLICY
C. Wright Mills: Turning Personal Troubles Who Favors “Big Government”? Everybody! 312
into Social Issues 5 Low-Wage Jobs: On (Not) Getting By in America 325
An Undeserved Handout? The Truth about “Welfare” 50 More Than Just Talk: The Politics of Bilingual
Nursing Home Abuse: What Should Be Done? 142 Education 388
The Death Penalty: Problem or Solution? 185 When Work Disappears: Can We Rescue the
The Drug Wars: Safer Streets or Police State? 249 Inner City? 410

PERSONAL STORIES
The Reality of Poverty: Living on the Edge 42 Dying for Attention: One Student’s Story 238
After the Children: Getting Back in the Game 114 Deinstitutionalization: When Good Intentions
Is Aging a Disease? 141 Have Bad Results 282
Stalking: The Construction of a Problem 166 School Choice: One Family’s View 395

xiv
Maps
Cindy Rucker, 29 years old, recently Although she is only 28 years old,
took time off from her job in the Baktnizar Kahn has four children,
New Orleans public school system a common pattern in Afghanistan.
Greenland
to have her first child. (Den.) Area of inset

U.S.
RUSSIA
CANADA

GEORGIA KAZAKHSTAN
MONGOLIA
UNITED UZBEKISTAN
NORTH
ARMENIA KYRGYZSTAN
STATES AZERBAIJAN TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN
KOREA

TUNISIA LEBANON SYRIA CHINA SOUTH

IRAN AFGHANISTAN KOREA JAPAN
ISRAEL IRAQ
MOROCCO West Bank KUWAIT PAKISTAN BHUTAN
30° JORDAN NEPAL 30°
ALGERIA LIBYA BAHRAIN Hong
BAHAMAS QATAR
DOM. REP.
Western Sahara EGYPT SAUDI U.A.E. Kong
U.S. BELIZE Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Mor.) ARABIA INDIA MYANMAR Taiwan
MEXICO CUBA ST. KITTS & NEVIS OMAN
(BURMA) Macao
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA MAURITANIA MALI LAOS
BANGLADESH
JAMAICA HAITI DOMINICA CAPE NIGER ERITREA YEMEN
Martinique (Fr.) VERDE
SENEGAL THAILAND PHILIPPINES
ST. LUCIA
GUATEMALA GRENADA BARBADOS BURKINA CHAD SUDAN VIETNAM
ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES GAMBIA FASO NIGERIA DJIBOUTI
EL SALVADOR TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
MARSHALL
GUINEA-BISSAU CAMBODIA ISLANDS
HONDURAS VENEZUELA GUYANA GUINEA
GHANA CENT. S. ETHIOPIA PALAU
NICARAGUA French Guiana SIERRA LEONE BENIN
AFR. REP. SUDAN SRI BRUNEI FEDERATED STATES
COSTA RICA CAM. OF MICRONESIA
COLOMBIA (Fr.) LIBERIA TOGO
UGANDA
SOMALIA MALDIVES LANKA MALAYSIA
PANAMA CÔTE D’IVOIRE EQ. GUINEA RWANDA Singapore
0° KENYA 0°
ECUADOR SURINAME SAO TOME & PRINCIPE GABON
NAURU KIRIBATI
DEM. REP.
OF THE BURUNDI
REP. OF THE CONGO
CONGO TANZANIA I N D O N E S I A PAPUA
NEW GUINEA
SOLOMON
COMOROS
PERU
BRAZIL TIMOR-LESTE
ISLANDS TUVALU

ANGOLA SEYCHELLES
SAMOA MALAWI
ZAMBIA VANUATU FIJI
BOLIVIA MADAGASCAR
ZIMBABWE
NAMIBIA MAURITIUS
TONGA BOTSWANA New
PARAGUAY Caledonia
150° 120° CHILE MOZAMBIQUE AUSTRALIA (Fr.)
SWAZILAND
30° SOUTH 30°
LESOTHO
AFRICA
URUGUAY
20° 0° 20° 40° ARGENTINA NEW
0 500 Km ZEALAND

EUROPE
ICELAND
SWEDEN
FINLAND
NORWAY
90° 60° 30° 0° 30° 60° 90° 120° 150° Average Number of
60° ESTONIA
RUSSIA Births per Woman
LATVIA
DENMARK
UNITED LITHUANIA
KINGDOM BELARUS
6.0 and higher
IRELAND NETH. POLAND ANTARCTICA
BEL. GERMANY
CZECH
5.0 to 5.9
UKRAINE
LUX. REP. SLVK.
AUS.
HUNG. MOLDOVA 4.0 to 4.9
SWITZ.
ROMANIA
FRANCE SLO.
SERBIA 3.0 to 3.9
CROATIA
BOS. & HERZ.
MONT. BULGARIA
ITALY
KOS. MAC. 2.0 to 2.9
ALB.
40° SPAIN
PORTUGAL
GREECE TURKEY 1.0 to 1.9
MALTA CYPRUS

GLOBAL MAPS: Window on the World

1–1 Women’s Childbearing in Global Perspective 14 13–1 Illiteracy in Global Perspective 378
4–1 Women’s Power in Global Perspective 104 14–1 Urbanization in Global Perspective 418
6–1 Capital Punishment in Global Perspective 184 15–1 Population Growth in Global Perspective 434
7–1 HIV Infections in Global Perspective 219 15–2 Economic Development in Global Perspective 440
9–1 Infant Mortality in Global Perspective 266 16–1 Energy Consumption in Global Perspective 461
10–1 Economic Freedom in Global Perspective 297 17–1 Peace in Global Perspective, 2015 484
11–1 Internet Users in Global Perspective 336 17–2 Nuclear Weapons in Global Perspective 490
12–1 Legal Same-Sex Marriage and Registered
Partnerships in Global Perspective 361

xv
xvi Maps

WASHINGTON

MONTANA VERMONT MAINE

NORTH MINNESOTA
DAKOTA
OREGON MICHIGAN
NEW HAMPSHIRE
IDAHO SOUTH MASSACHUSETTS
DAKOTA WISCONSIN NEW
YORK
WYOMING RHODE ISLAND
CONNECTICUT
IOWA PENNSYLVANIA
NEBRASKA NEW JERSEY
NEVADA OHIO
INDIANA DELAWARE
ILLINOIS D.C.
UTAH WEST
COLORADO VIRGINIA MARYLAND
CALIFORNIA KANSAS VIRGINIA
MISSOURI KENTUCKY
NORTH
CAROLINA
TENNESSEE
ARIZONA
OKLAHOMA ARKANSAS Number of People
NEW
MEXICO
SOUTH per Million Who
CAROLINA
GEORGIA
Develop Cancer
ALABAMA
from Air Pollution
TEXAS
ALASKA MISSISSIPPI 60 and over

LOUISIANA
50 to 59
FLORIDA
35 to 49
HAWAII 20 to 34
1 to 19

U.S. average: 40.0

NATIONAL MAP S : Seeing Ourselves

2–1 Poverty across the United States, 2014 45 7–1 Teenage Pregnancy Rates across the
3–1 Language Diversity across the United States 77 United States 216
3–2 The Concentration of Hispanics/Latinos, 8–1 Marijuana Laws across the United States 250
African Americans, Asian Americans, 9–1 Life Expectancy across the United States 274
and Arab Americans, by County 82 10–1 Voter Turnout across the United States 305
4–1 Women’s Political Power across the 11–1 “Right to Work” Laws across the
United States 109 United States 335
4–2 The Earnings Gender Gap across the 12–1 Divorce across the United States 357
United States 113 13–1 Public School Teachers’ Pay across
5–1 The Elderly Population across the the United States 390
United States 138 14–1 Foreclosures across the United States 405
6–1 The Risk of Violent Crime across the 14–2 Population Change across the United
United States 167 States, 2000–2010 416
6–2 Who’s Packin’? Concealed Weapon 16–1 Risk of Cancer from Air Pollution across the
Laws across the United States 179 United States 467
6–3 Inmates on Death Row across the
United States 186
Preface
O
ur nation’s Pledge of Allegiance ends with the
words “…with liberty and justice for all.” This
statement reflects our collective hope, but does it
describe our reality? Certainly, some categories of the pop-
ulation (the rich, men, white people, heterosexual people)
have greater freedom than others (the poor, women, peo-
ple of color, homosexual and transsexual people). Then,
too, a large share of this country’s people has serious
questions about the extent of social justice. This is an era
of political division and widespread frustration. Two-
thirds of U.S. adults say that the country is “on the wrong
track.” Globally, armed conflict and terrorism threaten the
planet’s peace, and there is increasing concern about the
state of the natural environment and the consequences of
global warming. Clearly, this is a time when we need to
understand more about social problems.
Facts, Theory, and Politics
Sociology offers a path to understanding the problems
that we face in today’s world. Our discipline also ex-
tends an invitation to action—to become involved in
the political debates and movements that are reshaping
society. As the leading text for this course, Social Problems,
Seventh Edition, offers a broad investigation of social
problems, both domestic and global. This title provides
all the facts, highlighting historical trends and pointing
out what is going on today. In addition, this text uses so-
ciological theory to tie facts together to create meaning and
understanding.
Just as important, this title stands alone by provid-
ing political analysis. As a source of both understanding
and action, politics matters. In the 2016 presidential elec-
tion, the candidates represented a wide range of political
positions, including far left (Sanders), liberal (Clinton),
conservative (Cruz), and libertarian (Paul), and whatever
label you want to place on Mr. Trump. Each of these posi-
tions seeks a distinctive type of society. As citizens, it is our
responsibility to learn enough about politics and the issues
to decide which visions are worth supporting and then to
become involved in the political process.
Social Problems, Seventh Edition, not only urges people
to become involved, it explains what politics is all about.
From the first chapter to the last, this title explains the
attitudes and values that define various positions on the
political spectrum. Social Problems then applies these po-
litical points of view to dozens of issues—from increas-
ing economic inequality to terrorism—so that students
understand today’s debates and gain the ability to analyze
new issues on their own.
A guiding principle of this text is that politics involves
various points of view. Social Problems presents diverse po-
litical viewpoints for four reasons. First, all of them are
part of the political debate that goes on across the United
States. Second, no one can develop personal political be-
liefs with any conviction without understanding the argu-
ments of those who disagree. In other words, to be, say, a
good liberal, one needs to understand not just progressive
politics but also conservative and radical-left positions as
well. Third, while anyone is likely to favor one political
position over others, all positions offer some element of
truth. In politics, reasonable people can and do disagree.
Understanding all positions is a major step toward pro-
moting civil and respectful discourse. Fourth, and finally,
by being inclusive, Social Problems invites all students
to share their ideas, which encourages more lively class
discussion.
The Social-Constructionist
Approach
The most important reason to “put the politics in” when
teaching a social problems course is to understand how
politics guides the process of defining and responding to
social problems. This title differs from all others in that is
does not adopt one (implicit or explicit) political point of
view by presenting a series of “problems” and identifying
a sequence of “solutions” as if everyone agreed about what
these are. Rather, all chapters highlight the importance of
political attitudes in the selection of some issues and not
others issues as “problems,” as well as in the favoring of
certain polices as “solutions.” With this fact in mind, we
can understand why people disagree about what the prob-
lems and their solutions are. Indeed, one person’s “prob-
lem” may well be another’s “solution.” From this insight,
true conversation begins.
Another benefit of using a social-constructionist ap-
proach is recognizing how our society came to define
problems at certain points in time, often as a result
of claims made by social movements. For example, the
behaviors we now call “child abuse,” “sexual harass-
ment,” and “environmental racism” may always have
been with us, but our society did not always define these
as problems. On the contrary, laws were enacted against
them only after courageous individuals sparked success-
ful social movements for change.
xvii
xviii Preface
A Fully Involved Author
John Macionis is personally involved in every element of
Social Problems. In addition to keeping the manuscript up to
date, he selects all the photos and other images, writes all
the captions, develops all the testing material, prepares the
instructor’s manual, and creates all the interactive content
in the Revel electronic version. John corresponds regularly
with colleagues and students, which makes Social Problems
an always-evolving project. For the latest in the Macionis
texts, visit his personal website: www.TheSociologyPage.
com or www.macionis.com. Among other things, you will
find there a series of new PowerPoint presentations, based
on current research and free for downloading. A full suite
of instructor resources is available from Pearson at www.
pearsonhighereducation.com.
What’s New in the Seventh Edition
Here is a brief listing of what’s new in this revision:
Social Problems, Seventh Edition, is a thorough revision
that provides the latest available data and includes the
most recent events and trends. Here are some examples of
new material for each chapter:
Chapter 1: Studying Social Problems New discussions
include the controversy surrounding concussions and
football and the national debate over high levels of im-
migration. The chapter contains expanded coverage of gun
violence. The latest survey data identify the public’s view
of the most serious social problems. Find expanded dis-
cussion of Black Lives Matter, recent terror attacks in the
United States and abroad, the spread of the Zika virus, the
Flint, Michigan, water crisis, and increasing national atten-
tion to economic inequality.
Chapter 2: economic inequality For this key chapter, all
income and wealth data are new. There is new discussion
of how much (or how little) our system of taxation reduces
economic inequality; new data point to a longevity gap
between rich and poor; the chapter explores earnings of
the highest-paid people in business, athletics, and enter-
tainment; and the chapter now includes discussion of the
significance of Bernie Sanders’s political campaign as well
as the importance of the economic inequality issue in the
2016 presidential election. This chapter is supported by
fifty new research citations.
Chapter 3: racial and ethnic inequality New to the sev-
enth edition are discussions of white privilege and micro-
aggression. There is new coverage of Filipino Americans,
illustrating the variable ways in which people establish a
racial and ethnic identity. Eighteen new research citations
inform the revised chapter.
Chapter 4: Gender inequality New discussions focus on
gender in the media messages of political campaigns and
also the proposed policy of a universal minimum wage
to recognize the economic value of housework. Updates
include the increasing number of women political leaders
holding state and national office, the small share of films
that pass the Bechdel test for gender bias, the narrowing
gender gap in pay, the trend toward equal pay for women
and men in television, and the extent of sexual violence.
The revised chapter is informed by twenty-nine new re-
search citations.
Chapter 5: aging and inequality The discussion of elder
care has been rewritten to reflect the latest research and
statistics; the discussion of euthanasia includes recent legal
changes. Updates include the latest in life expectancy, the
changing living arrangements for the elderly, changes in
poverty rates over the life course, and how the gender gap
in pay varies at different stages of life. There are nineteen
new research citations in this revised chapter.
Chapter 6: Crime, violence, and Criminal Justice New
discussions in this chapter focus on the problem of “miss-
ing black men,” mass incarceration, and also trend toward
the decriminalization of marijuana. Updates reflect the
non-gendered definition of rape and the expanded defi-
nition of statutory rape now used by the Department of
Justice, the narrowing gender gap in arrests, the low level
of prosecution for white-collar crime, the increasing num-
ber of hate crimes, the high human toll linked to gang-re-
lated violence, and the declining use of capital punishment
across the country. Forty new research citations inform the
revised chapter.
Chapter 7: Sexuality There are new and expanded dis-
cussions of sexuality issues on campus, the transgender
movement, and the effects of pornography on the indi-
vidual. Updates include new data on how people identify
themselves in terms of sexual orientation, recent changes to
marriage laws, changing age at first intercourse, increasing
public acceptance of homosexuality, the high level of anti-
gay violence, the scope of national and global AIDS, and
recent efforts to restrict access to legal abortion. Thirty-two
new research citations support this revised chapter.
Chapter 8: alcohol and other drugs The revised chap-
ter has new and expanded discussions of the movement
to decriminalize marijuana and of our nation’s expanding
heroin epidemic. Updates highlight the use of various cat-
egories of legal and illegal drugs, patterns of alcohol use
on campus, the extent of cigarette smoking in the United
States and in nations around the world, and the increasing
medication of U.S. children. Forty-two new research cita-
tions inform this revised chapter.

Chapter 9: Physical and Mental health New and ex-
panded discussions focus on the latest assessments of the
Affordable Care Act and also the contrasts between rural
and urban patterns of health. Updates include the status of
AIDS, our nation’s ranking in global comparisons of health,
and rates of mental illness by gender, race, and ethnicity.
Thirty-one new research citations inform the revised chapter.
Chapter 10: economy and Politics New discussions
involve the 2016 presidential campaign, including the
increasing importance of “outsider” candidates, the latest
patterns involving campaign financing, and the personal
wealth of all the candidates. Updates include the latest on
public trust of government, some causes of Congressional
“gridlock,” changing patterns of party affiliation, and ris-
ing wages at Walmart. Twenty-six new research citations
support the revised chapter.
Chapter 11: Work and the Workplace New and ex-
panded discussions highlight the widespread presence of
toxic substances in the workplace, work-related policies
advanced during the 2016 presidential campaign, and
changing patterns of unemployment. Updates focus on the
extent of workplace injuries, the problem of workplace vi-
olence, the increasing reliance on part-time and temporary
teaching staff in colleges and universities, and the state of
labor unions in the United States. Eighteen new research
citations support the revised chapter.
Chapter 12: Family Life The 2015 Supreme Court rul-
ing legalizing same-sex marriage is integrated throughout
the chapter. The latest statistical data support updated
discussion of the extent of marriage, the increasing rate of
cohabitation, rising incidence of single-parenting, and the
changing rate of divorce. Twenty new research citations
inform this revised chapter.
Chapter 13: education There is expanded discussion
of educational achievement according to race, class, and
gender, as well as greater coverage of the challenges fac-
ing U.S. public education. New discussion highlights the
underrepresentation of minority students in the nation’s
“gifted and talented” programs. Updates highlight the
extent of schooling both in the United States and the
world as a whole, the problem of school violence, and how
gender shapes the teaching profession. Twenty-two new
research citations inform the revised chapter.
Chapter 14: Urban Life There is new and expanded
discussion of the fiscal crisis in Detroit and other U.S. cit-
ies. Updates track urbanization in the United States and
the world as a whole, rates of unemployment and poverty
for various parts of urban and rural America, the increas-
ing minority population of U.S. cities, and the extent of
Preface xix
homelessness across the country. There are eleven new
research citations in this chapter.
Chapter 15: Population and Global inequality There
is new and expanded discussion of economic inequality
around the world, including the changing numbers of low-,
middle-, and high-income nations. The chapter includes
extensive updating of global patterns of fertility, mortal-
ity, migration, and longevity, and presents the latest data
on the extent of slavery, women’s access to contraception,
the declining level of severe poverty in the world, and in-
creasing debt carried by low-income nations. Twenty new
research citations ensure the revised chapter’s currency.
Chapter 16: technology and environment The revised
chapter has expanded coverage of climate change and
includes new discussion of the water quality crisis in Flint,
Michigan, that illustrates how race and class shape envi-
ronmental risks. Updates highlight growing levels of car-
bon emissions, increasing global population, rising energy
consumption, and disappearing rain forests. Fourteen new
research citations support the revised chapter.
Chapter 17: War and terrorism The revised chapter has
expanded discussion of ISIS and highlights other recent
cases of global conflict. New discussion highlights the “new
arms race” involving hypersonic missile warheads and also
the disturbing levels of poverty and homelessness among
U.S. veterans. Updates provides the latest data on the
number of armed conflicts in the world, levels of military
spending, the pace of arms control, the number of children
engaged in militarism, and the increasing role of women
in today’s military. Recent cases of terrorism around the
world are documented, including their toll in human terms.
Eighteen new research citations inform the revised chapter.
Supplements
instructor’s Manual and test Bank Each chapter in
the Instructor’s Manual includes the following resources:
Chapter Update; Author’s Note; Chapter Outline; Learning
Objectives; Detailed Teaching Objectives;, John’s Chapter
Close-Up; John’s Personal Video Selection; Research for a
Cutting-Edge Classroom; Teaching Suggestions, Exercises,
and Projects; Web Links; Essay Questions; and Film List.
Designed to make your lectures more effective and to save
preparation time, this extensive resource gathers together
useful activities and strategies for teaching your Social
Problems course. Also included in this manual is a test
bank of more than 900 multiple-choice and essay ques-
tions. The Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank is available
to adopters for download from the Pearson Instructors
Resource Center at www.pearsonhighered.com.
xx Preface
Mytest This computerized software allows instructors
to create their own personalized exams, to edit any or all
of the existing test questions, and to add new questions.
Other special features of this program include random
generation of test questions, creation of alternate versions
of the same test, scrambling question sequence, and test
preview before printing. For easy access, this software
is available for download from the Pearson Instructors
Resource Center at www.pearsonhighered.com.
PowerPoint Presentations the Lecture PowerPoint
slides follow the chapter outline and feature images from
the textbook integrated with the text. Additionally, all of
the PowerPoints are uniquely designed to present concepts
in a clear and succinct way. They are available to adopt-
ers for download from the Pearson Instructors Resource
Center at www.pearsonhighered.com.
I dedicate this edition of Social Problems to Dr. Donald
Ferrell and Dr. Charlotte Brauchle, two very good friends
in the process of making change.
As always, please feel free to contact me by email:
Macionis@kenyon.edu
With my best wishes to my colleagues,
John J. Macionis
About the Author
John J. MACIonIS [pronounced ma-SHOW-nis] has
been in the classroom teaching sociology for more than
forty years. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
John earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University
and a doctorate in sociology from the University of
Pennsylvania.
His publications are wide-ranging, focusing on com-
munity life in the United States, interpersonal intimacy in
families, effective teaching, humor, new information tech-
nology, and the importance of global education.
In addition to authoring this best-seller, Macionis has
also written Society: The Basics, the most popular paper-
back text in the field, now in its fourteenth edition. The
full-length Macionis introductory text is Sociology, which
is now in its sixteenth edition. He collaborates on inter-
national editions of the texts: Society: The Basics: Canadian
Edition, Sociology: Canadian Edition, and Sociology: A Global
Introduction. All the Macionis texts are available for high
school students and in various foreign-language editions. service by awarding him an honorary doctorate of humane
All the texts are also offered in low-cost electronic edi- letters in 2013.
tions in the Revel program. These exciting learning materi- In 2002, the American Sociological Association pre-
als provide an interactive learning experience. Unlike other sented Macionis with the Award for Distinguished Con-
authors, John takes personal responsibility for writing all tributions to Teaching, citing his innovative use of global
electronic content, just as he authors all the assessment and material as well as the introduction of new teaching tech-
supplemental materials. John proudly resists the trend to- nology in his textbooks.
ward “outsourcing” such material to non-sociologists. Professor Macionis has been active in academic pro-
In addition, Macionis edited the best-selling anthology grams in other countries, having traveled to some fifty
Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural nations. He writes, “I am an ambitious traveler, eager to
Readings in Sociology, also available in a Canadian edition. learn and, through the texts, to share much of what I dis-
Macionis and Vincent Parrillo have written the leading urban cover with students, many of whom know little about the
studies text, Cities and Urban Life, currently in a sixth edition. rest of the world. For me, traveling and writing are all
Follow John on his Facebook author page: John J. dimensions of teaching. First, and foremost, I am a
Macionis and find the latest information on all the books. teacher–a passion for teaching animates everything I
You can also access downloadable teaching material at his do.”
website: www.macionis.com or www.TheSociologyPage. At Kenyon, Macionis taught a number of courses, but
com. A full suite of instructor resources is found at the his favorite classes were always Introduction to Sociology
Pearson site: www.pearsonhighered.com and Social Problems. He continues to enjoy contact with
John Macionis recently retired from full-time teaching students across the United States and around the world.
at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he was Pro- John now lives near New York City. In his free time,
fessor and Distinguished Scholar of Sociology. During his he enjoys tennis, swimming, hiking, and playing oldies
long career as Kenyon, he chaired the Sociology Depart- rock-and-roll. Macionis is an environmental activist in the
ment, directed the college’s multidisciplinary program in Lake George region of New York’s Adirondack Mountains,
humane studies, presided over the campus senate, was working with a number of organizations, including the
president of the college’s faculty, and taught sociology to Lake George Land Conservancy, where he serves as presi-
thousands of students. Kenyon recognized his decades of dent of the board of trustees.

xxi
Chapter 1
Sociology: Studying Social
Problems
Learning Objectives
1.1 Explain the benefits of learning about 1.4 Discuss the methods sociologists use to
sociology and using the sociological study social problems.
imagination.
1.5 Identify factors that shape how societies
1.2 Define the concept “social problem” and devise policy to respond to social problems.
explain how societies come to define some
1.6 Analyze how political attitudes shape
issues—and not others—as social problems.
how people define social problems and
1.3 Apply sociological theory to the study of solutions.
social problems.

2
 Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems 3

Tracking the Trends

Survey Question: “Do you feel things in this country are

generally going in the right direction or do you feel things
have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?”
90%

80%

70%
Percentage Responding

60%

50%

40%

30%

20% “Wrong track”

10% “Right track”

0%
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
Year

SourCe: CBS News/New York Times (2016).

Researchers try to gauge the public’s confidence in the country by asking gen-
eral questions such as this one:

“Do you think the country is on the right track or the wrong track?”

In early 2016, 65 percent of U.S. adults said they thought that the country
was “on the wrong track,” more than twice the share who thought the country
was “going in the right direction.” Back in 2002, just 35 percent of U.S. adults
said the country was on the wrong track. In recent years, dissatisfaction with
government emerged as the most commonly cited social problem in the
United States. Do you think the country can continue without the confidence
of a majority of the people?
4 Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems

Constructing the Problem

What turns an issue into a social
problem?
Social problems come into being as
people define an issue as harmful and in
need of change.
Aren’t we always dealing with the same
problems?
Most of today’s problems differ from those
that concerned the public several generations
ago.
Isn’t a social problem any condition
that is harmful?
Many conditions harmful to thousands
of people are never defined as social
problems.

Chapter Overview
This chapter introduces the study of social problems by defining the sociological
imagination, explaining sociology’s theoretical approaches, and describing sociolog-
ical methods of research. You will learn how people’s political attitudes define the
issues they are likely to view as social problems and what policies they are likely to
favor as solutions. You will gain the ability to describe the political spectrum and to
apply various positions on the political spectrum to social issues.

Marcos Jorman was already late as he rushed out the
door of his apartment. He ran down the stairs, briefcase
in hand, and crashed through the old wooden door of the
apartment building. He looked north up Chestnut Street.
What luck! The bus was right there, just half a block away!
Catching his breath, Marcos climbed aboard as the bus
pulled out into the heavy traffic. He saw Jan, a co-worker,
standing in the rear of the bus.
“I just got a text from Sandra,” Jan blurted out,
looking a little desperate. “She says everyone is getting
laid off. We’re all out. The company is shutting down the
whole division and moving operations out of the coun-
try.” Her head dropped along with her spirit. “What am I
going to do? How am I going to manage with my kids?”
Marcos checked his own phone. He, too, had messages—
several from co-workers who had already arrived at work
and confirmed the bad news. “Oh, man, it’s true,” he said
softly. The two stood without speaking for the rest of the ride.
The day turned out to be one of the toughest in
Marcos’s entire life. He knew the start-up company was
struggling with rising costs and heavy competition. Only
two months earlier, new management had come in to “re-
organize” and to cut costs. The decision to close operations
was the result.
As he entered his workstation, he was handed a short
letter spelling out the dismissal. He joined dozens of oth-
ers at a short meeting with a human relations officer and
then went back to pack up his things. He was home again
by early afternoon.

Marcos sat in his apartment with a cup of tea looking
out the window at nothing in particular. He felt weak,
almost ill. He kept telling himself that times are tough. He
knew the company was in trouble. But, somehow, he could
not shake the idea that the job loss was his own fault, his
own personal failure.
This story could be told millions of times because
millions of people—including those who worked in
construction, sales, communications, management, and
teaching—have lost their jobs in recent years.
Seeing Patterns: The
Sociological Imagination
1.1 Explain the benefits of learning about sociology
and using the sociological imagination.
Living in a society that teaches us to feel personally
responsible for whatever happens to us—good or bad—
we easily understand Marcos’s reaction to being laid off.
We imagine Marcos second-guessing himself: Should he
have majored in something else? If only he had taken that
other job in Atlanta! If only he had listened to his father
and stayed in school. We all tend to personalize our lives
and blame ourselves for our troubles.
SoCIAl PolICy
C. Wright Mills: Turning Personal Troubles into Social Issues
All of us struggle with our own problems, which might include
unemployment, falling into debt, falling out of love, drug or
alcohol abuse, poor health, or suffering from violence. We
experience these problems; we feel them, sometimes on a
gut‑wrenching level. Our problems are personal. But C. Wright
Mills (1959) claimed that the roots of such “personal” problems
lie in society itself, often involving the ways our economic and
political systems work. After all, the normal operation of our so‑
ciety favors some categories of people over others: the rich over
the poor, white people over people of color, middle‑aged people
over the very young and the very old. When people see their
problems as personal, all they can do is try to deal with their
troubles as one individual. Isolating one life in this way keeps
people from seeing the bigger picture of how society operates.
In the end, as Mills explained, people feel that “their lives are a
series of traps. They sense that within their everyday worlds,
they cannot overcome their troubles” (1959:3). Because we live
in an individualistic culture, we are quick to conclude that the
troubles we experience are simply our own fault.
Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems 5
However, when we apply the sociological imagi-
nation, a point of view that highlights how society affects
the experiences we have and the choices we make, the pic-
ture changes. Using the sociological imagination, we see
that the operation of U.S. society—in this case, a serious
national recession—caused the loss of millions of jobs.
This event, which changed the lives of people all over the
country, can hardly be said to be simply a matter of bad
personal choices.
Sociology is the systematic study of human societies.
Society refers to people who live within some territory and
share many patterns of behavior. As sociologists study society,
they pay attention to culture, a way of life including wide-
spread values (about what is good and bad), beliefs (about what
is true), and behavior (what people do every day).
Cultural patterns in the United States are diverse, but
one widely shared value is the importance of individual-
ism, the idea that, for better or worse, people are respon-
sible for their own lives. In the case of Marcos Jorman, it
is easy to say, “Well, he lost his job because he decided
to take a job with a start-up company in the first place.
He really brought this on himself.” In other words, our
common sense often defines personal problems—even
when the problems affect millions of people—as the result
of personal choice. Without denying that individuals do
make choices, sociologists point to ways in which society
A more accurate and more effective approach is to
understand that it is society that shapes our lives. Using the
sociological imagination transforms personal troubles into
social issues by showing that these issues affect not only
us but also countless people like us. This knowledge gives
us power because, joining with others, we can improve our
lives—and break free of our traps—as we set out to change
society.
What Do You Think?
1. Provide three examples of personal problems that Mills
would define as social issues.
2. To what extent do you think people in the United States
believe that problems such as unemployment result from
bad personal choices or even bad luck? Did this change
during the recent recession? Explain.
3. Have you ever taken part in a movement seeking change?
What was the movement trying to do? What were your
reasons for joining?
6 Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems
shapes all our lives. Thinking sociologically, we see that
widespread unemployment may be a personal problem
(especially to people who lose their jobs), but it is also a
social issue.
Sociology’s key insight is that many of the personal
troubles people face are really social issues with their roots in
the operation of the larger society. As the U.S. sociologist
C. Wright Mills (1916–1963) explained, using the sociolog-
ical imagination helps us “kick it up a level” and see how
society shapes our personal lives. The Social Policy box
takes a closer look at how sociology can help you do this
for yourself.
By helping us to see the world in a new way, the socio-
logical imagination gives us power to bring about change.
But a sociological viewpoint can also be disturbing. A
course in social problems asks us to face the fact that many
people in our communities lose their jobs, become victims
of crime, and go to bed hungry through no fault of their
own. When the economy turns bad, as it did in 2008, mil-
lions of people suddenly find that they are unemployed
and many of them still are out of work years later. In this
richest of nations, even during “good times,” tens of mil-
lions of people (especially women and children) are poor.
The study of social problems helps us see these truths
more clearly. It also encourages us to play a part in shaping
the future of our nation and the world.
Social Problems: The Basics
1.2 Define the concept “social problem” and explain
how societies come to define some issues—and not
others—as social problems.
A social problem is a condition that undermines the well-
being of some or all members of a society and is usually a matter
of public controversy. In this definition, the term “condition”
refers to any situation that at least some people define as
Table 1–1 Serious Social Problems, 1935 and 2016
1935 2016
1. Unemployment and a poor 1. Dissatisfaction with government
economy
2. Inefficient government 2. The economy
3. Danger of war 3. Terrorism
4. High taxes 4. Immigration
5. Government overinvolvement 5. Guns/gun control
6. Labor conflict 6. Race relations/racism
7. Poor farm conditions 7. Unemployment
8. Inadequate pensions for the 8. Federal budget deficit
elderly
9. High concentration of wealth 9. Poverty/hunger/homelessness
10. Drinking alcohol 10. Gap between the rich and poor
SourCe: Gallup (1935, 2016).
troublesome, such as not having a job, having huge college
loans, living in fear of crime, being overweight or living in
poor health, or worrying about the effects of toxic chemi-
cals in our drinking water.
A condition that “undermines the well-being” hurts
people, either by causing them immediate harm or, per-
haps, by limiting their choices. For example, poverty not
only deprives people of nutritious food and safe housing,
but it also takes away their dignity, leaving them passive
and powerless.
Because any issue affects various segments of our
population differently, a particular social problem is rarely
harmful to everyone. During the recent recession, some
executives earned huge salaries and bonuses, just as some
corporations (such as Walmart, which sells at very low
prices) actually did pretty well. Even war that brings
injury and death to young soldiers brings wealth to the
companies that make and sell weapons and confers greater
power on the military leaders who head our country’s
armed forces. As a result, the full consequences of any
particular social problem are rarely simple or easy to
understand.
Social problems spark public controversy. Sometimes
a social problem (such as the Nice terrorist attack in 2016)
rocks the whole world. In other cases (such as the spread
of the Zika virus in 2016), a small number of government
leaders and public health officials take action at the
local level, perhaps by stockpiling vaccine and restrict-
ing travel to areas where infections have been reported
(Tavernise, 2016).
Social Problems over Time
What are our country’s most serious social problems?
The answer depends on when you ask the question. As
shown in Table 1–1, the public’s view of problems changes
over time. Back in 1935, a survey of U.S. adults identified
the ten biggest problems facing the country, which we
can compare to a similar survey completed in early 2016
(Gallup, 2016). In the mid-1930s, the Great Depression was
the major concern because as much as 25 percent of U.S.
adults were out of work. Not surprisingly, unemployment
topped the list of problems that year. After years of grid-
lock in Washington, D.C., dissatisfaction with government
topped the list in 2016, but several of the issues cited as
serious social problems also reflected our country’s strug-
gling economy.
Comparing the two lists in the table, we find three
issues on both: the economy, unemployment, and dissatis-
faction with government. But the other issues are different,
showing that the public’s view of social problems changes
over time. Sometimes, public opinion can change dra-
matically even over short periods. In the months after the
shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri,

the share of the people concerned about police violence
directed against African Americans spiked. Similarly, in
the wake of the killings in San Bernardino, California, at
the end of 2015 and the shootings in Orlando, Florida, in
2016, an increasing share of the public identified terrorism
and gun control as among the nation’s most serious social
problems (Gallup, 2016).
The Social-Constructionist Approach
The fact that people at different times define different
issues as social problems points to the importance of the
social-constructionist approach, the assertion that social
problems arise as people define conditions as undesirable and in
need of change. This approach states that social problems
have a subjective foundation, reflecting people’s judg-
ments about their world. For example, the public has yet to
include obesity on the list of serious social problems, even
though health officials say that most adults in the United
States are overweight. This is true despite the objective
fact that illness brought on by obesity costs the lives of
hundreds of thousands of people in our country each year,
which is many times the number of people who die as a re-
sult of terrorist attacks or the number of soldiers who were
killed in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Figure 1–1 explains the subjective and objective foun-
dations of social problems. Box A includes issues—such as
homicide—that are objectively very harmful (more than
14,000 people are murdered each year in the United States)
and cause widespread concern (polls show that a majority
of U.S. adults worry about gun violence and want the gov-
ernment to reduce crime) (Pew Research Center, 2016). Box
B includes issues—such as the use of automobiles—that,
objectively speaking, cause even greater harm (more than
32,000 people in the United States die each year in auto
accidents), and yet hardly anyone sees these issues as social
problems. Of course, one reason people overlook the high
death toll on our highways is that we think of automobiles
as necessary to our way of life. Box C represents issues—
such as school shootings—that, objectively speaking, cause
relatively limited harm (only a few dozen people have
died from such incidents, which is actually fewer than the
number of people who die each year from bee stings), but
these issues are widely viewed as serious problems all the
same (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014; National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, 2015). Finally, Box D includes
the use of cell phones, football, and a host of other activities
that are not thought to be harmful and also are not consid-
ered a problem.
Issues may move over time from one box to another.
In the years after the invention of cell phones in the 1980s,
for example, few people worried about their use even by
those operating motor vehicles. With little evidence that
this practice posed a threat, cell phones fell in Box D. More
Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems 7
recently, however, studies have reported that the use of cell
phones by people driving automobiles plays some part in
more than 1.5 million accidents a year, claiming several
hundred lives. As the number of deaths linked to cell
phone use increases, this issue will move toward Box B.
By 2016, as a result of increasing public concern, fourteen
states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois,
Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia)
plus the District of Columbia banned talking on handheld
phones while driving; thirty-eight states have outlawed
cell phone use by new drivers, and forty-six states have
prohibited texting by anyone behind the wheel. Before
long public opinion could define cell phone use in cars as
a serious problem, moving the issue from Box B to Box A
(National Safety Council, 2015; Governors Highway Safety
Association, 2016).
Any issue that is not considered a problem now
may be viewed quite differently at some point in the
future. For example, there are few things as American as
football, a game that has gained popularity over recent
decades and is now the most popular sport in the coun-
try. In recent years, however, an increasing number of
players and ex-players have spoken out about possible
concussion-related brain injury called chronic traumatic
encephalophy (CTE). The National Football League has
acknowledged that a problem exists and that efforts are
being made to more carefully monitor players’ well-being.
Exactly how widespread CTE is among players remains
Is it subjectively considered a
very serious problem?
Yes No
B
A
Yes Use of
Homicide
automobiles
Does it objectively
cause serious harm
to thousands of
people? C D
No School Use of
shootings cell phones
Figure 1–1 The Objective and Subjective Assessment
of Social Issues
This figure shows that some issues (such as homicide) are both
objectively harmful and widely seen as problems. But many issues
that are objectively harmful (the use of automobiles results in more
than 32,000 deaths each year) are not perceived as serious social
problems. Likewise, some issues that are viewed as serious social
problems (school shootings, for example) actually harm very few
people. Many other issues (such as using cell phones or playing
football) are not viewed by most people as harmful, although this
may change at some point in the future.
8 Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems
an open question. The 2015 film Concussion starring Will
Smith raised concern about CTE among the general public
(Siegel, 2015; Kindelan, 2016). Should this concern over
potential injuries increase, football might well move from
Box D to Box C or Box B, depending on how many people
are found to be harmed.
Another change in public opinion involves govern-
ment efforts to track people’s movement, telephone calls,
and internet activity. In the wake of the 9/11 terror-
ist attacks, most people in the United States did not
know much about efforts by the National Security
Administration and other government agencies to identify
suspicious activity on the part of potential terrorists. When
asked about government tracking of individuals, most
people offered the opinion that this was good and neces-
sary. There was little public awareness of how government
can use computer technology to threaten personal privacy
(Scherer, 2013). As a result, the government’s use of com-
puter technology fell in Box D. In recent years, revelations
about the extent of government monitoring of people’s
movement and communication have convinced an increas-
ing share of the public that this issue poses a real danger
to the personal freedom of everyone. For this reason, this
issue appears to be moving to Box B. Perhaps, at some
point in the future, most people will consider government
monitoring of the public to be a serious social problem,
placing the issue in Box A.
Recognizing that the subjective and objective impor-
tance of social issues may differ opens the door for a
deeper understanding of social change. Consider this curi-
ous pattern: A century ago, it was objectively true that the
social standing of women was far below that of men. In
1900, nine out of ten adult men worked for income, and
nine out of ten adult women remained in the home doing
housework and raising children. Women didn’t even have
the right to vote.
Although some people condemned what they saw
as blatant inequality, most people did not define this sit-
uation as a problem. Why not? Most people believed that
because women and men have some obvious biological
differences, the two sexes must have different abilities.
Thinking this way, it seemed natural for men to go out
to earn a living while women—who were thought back
then to be the “weaker sex”—stayed behind to manage
the home. Objectively, gender inequality was huge; subjec-
tively, however, it was rarely defined as a social problem.
Today, women and men are far closer to being socially
equal than they were in 1900. Yet awareness of a “gender
problem” in the United States has actually become greater.
Why? Our cultural standards have changed, to the point
that people now see the two sexes as mostly the same, and
so we expect women and men to be socially equal. As a
result, we view even small instances of gender inequality
as a problem.
When we investigate social issues, it is important to
consider both objective facts and subjective perceptions.
Both factors play a part in the social construction of social
problems.
What powerful people say about issues can have
big consequences for public opinion. In 2016, for the
first time, immigration showed up on the public’s list
of the most serious social problems. To some extent,
this concern reflects the fact that thousands of people
cross the southern U.S. border illegally each year. But
much of the concern reflects fear of immigrants from
the Middle East who might engage in terror. During
the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump called
for barring all Muslims from entering the country until
the government could ensure that no would-be jihadists
were admitted.
Does this subjective fear square with the objective
facts? The truth is that, since the 9/11 attacks in 2001,
some 330 people have been charged with crimes relating
to jihadist terrorism, but virtually all of these people have
been U.S. citizens or people who have permanent legal
residency (green cards). An isolated case of a recent immi-
grant engaging in deadly jihadist terrorism is Tashfeen
Malik (a legal U.S. resident) who, along with her husband
Syed Rizwan Farook (a natural-born U.S. citizen), killed
fourteen people in a 2015 terror attack in San Bernardino,
California.
Almost all terrorism that takes place in the United
States is “home grown” and is not the work of immigrants.
In addition, the number of people killed by right-wing
extremists (who strike out against the power of the U.S.
government) is also high. But while fears of jihadist terror-
ism have figured into national political debate (especially
on the part of Republicans), right-wing terrorism is not
widely viewed as a social problem.
A far greater threat to the public than any terror-
ism is gun violence. For years, more than 30,000 deaths
due to gun violence (including murder, suicide, and
accidents) have occurred annually, which is about 100
deaths every day. And for years, few people defined gun
violence as a social problem. Only in 2016 was gun vio-
lence listed among the most serious social problems for
the first time.
The point is that much public concern is directed
against immigrants, the vast majority of whom pose very
little danger to anyone; far less public concern is directed
against right-wing extremists who pose far greater dan-
ger. Even more significant, gun violence involving tens
of thousands of deaths each year has long been ignored
and is only now gaining widespread public attention. Put
another way, someone in the United States is 5,000 times
more likely to be killed by gun violence than by a jihadist
terrorist. Subjective fear does not necessarily reflect objec-
tive facts (Kristof, 2015; Bergen, 2016).
 Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems 9

Claims Making Of course, public officials and powerful individuals

One major reason for more attention being directed at gun
violence is that President Obama made this a high-priority
issue, using his office to rally public support for greater
gun control.
Claims making refers to efforts by individuals, officials,
and organizations to convince others that a particular issue or
situation should be defined as a social problem. This process
begins by rejecting the status quo (Latin words meaning
“the situation as it is”) and calling for change. Put another
way, claims making creates controversy by defining the
existing situation as unacceptable. The process continues
as people explain exactly what changes are needed and
why they are needed.
Claims making is illustrated in the history of another
issue that has been with us for some thirty-five years. Back
in 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
first received reports of a strange disease that was killing
people. The victims were mostly homosexual men. The
disease came to be known as “acquired immune deficiency
syndrome” (AIDS). For several years, even as the numbers
of cases in the United States climbed into the thousands,
AIDS received limited media coverage and there was little
public outcry. By 1985, however, the public as a whole had
become concerned about the danger of AIDS, and this dis-
ease was defined as a serious social problem.
What made this happen? For any condition to be
defined as a social problem, people—usually a small num-
ber at first—make claims that the situation is unacceptable
and that change is needed. In the case of AIDS, medical
officials sounded the alarm, and the gay communities in
large cities (notably San Francisco and New York) mobi-
lized to spread information about the dangers posed by
this deadly disease.
often engage in the “loudest” claims making. But ordinary
people can make claims more powerful by joining their
voices. In 2016, people in the city of Flint, Michigan, began
to come together and speak out about the dirty-looking
and unsafe tap water that was coming into their homes
from the city water supply. Scientists at a university labo-
ratory were engaged and confirmed the presence of high
levels of lead in the city’s water (Smith, 2016).
Social media have greatly increased the potential
impact of claims making. Television, radio, newspapers,
and computer devices that use the internet all quickly
spread information to tens of millions of people and can
mobilize individuals to join together in groups actively
seeking change. Stories in the mass media about the dan-
gers of tap water in Flint, Michigan, as well as the use
of social media, not only elevated this situation into a
major problem with criminal charges filed against public
officials but alerted people in other cities where similar
levels of water contamination may exist. In general, the
greater the mass media coverage of a topic and the more
media stories argue for change, the more likely the issue
in question is to develop into a social problem. In an age
when social media connect people as never before, success
in claims making can occur quickly. In 2013, shortly after a
Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the shooting
death of seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin, an activist
in California posted a statement that “black lives matter.”
Another activist transformed these words into the hashtag
#blacklivesmatter, and this claim was suddenly spreading
across the country, sparking a social movement. In 2015, in
response to the deaths of African Americans at the hands
of police, the phrase “black lives matter” was tweeted
some 9 million times.

Claims making is the process of

defining certain issues as social
problems. Economic inequality
has existed in the United States
throughout this country’s entire
history. Yet only in the past five years
has this issue gained widespread
public attention. In 2011, the Occupy
Wall Street movement advanced
the claim that just “1 percent” of the
people dominate U.S. society. In the
2016 presidential election, Bernie
Sanders built his campaign around
the claim that our nation’s level of
economic inequality is unjust and
should be reduced by government
policy.
10 Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems
In other cases, the process of claims making and
change may take years. As noted earlier, although experts
estimate that talking on handheld cell phones while
driving causes several hundred deaths every year, only
fourteen states have passed laws banning this practice
(Governors Highway Safety Association, 2016). The people
of Flint, Michigan, spoke out for several years before pub-
lic officials began to respond.
As the process of claims making gains public atten-
tion, it is likely to prompt counterclaims from opponents.
In other words, most controversial issues involve claims
making from at least two different positions. Take the
abortion controversy, for example. One side of the debate
claims that abortion is the wrongful killing of unborn
babies. The other side claims that abortion is a woman’s
right, a reproductive choice that should be made only by
the woman herself. Politics—how power plays out in a
society—is usually built around claims and counterclaims
about what should and should not be defined as social
problems.
How do we know when claims making brings about
change? The people of Flint will know they have been
heard when scientists confirm that their water is safe. In
many other cases, success in claims making is marked by
the passing of a law. Enacting a law is a clear statement
that some behavior is now defined as wrong, and it also
enlists the power of government to enforce it. In recent
decades, the passage of laws against stalking and sexual
harassment clearly defined these behaviors as problems
and directed the criminal justice system to act against
offenders (Welch, Dawson, & Nierobisz, 2002).
One important dimension of claims making is the
deliberate use of language. Consider the case of the
Affordable Care Act, enacted in 2010. Under this law,
health insurance companies could no longer refuse insur-
ance to someone who was already sick. Opponents of the
law characterized this policy as “socializing” risk, meaning
that the law forces other people to subsidize the cost of the
sick individual’s insurance. The word “socializing” (which
sounds a lot like “socialism”) suggests that this policy is
outside this country’s tradition of people taking personal
responsibility for their own health and insurance. On the
other hand, supporters of the health care law praised an
Emergence Coalescence
(Initial claims are made) (Claims are publicized)
Figure 1–2 Four Stages in the Life Course of a Social Movement
Social movements typically pass through these four stages over time. How quickly this process unfolds varies from movement to
movement.
end to what they called “discrimination against those with
preexisting conditions.” The use of the word “discrimina-
tion” implies that such refusal is unjust and a violation of
people’s basic rights.
The same careful use of language applies to debates
about how to solve problems. In general, advocates choose
language that makes their policy seem necessary and rea-
sonable; by contrast, opponents describe the same policy
in language that makes it seem unreasonable and perhaps
even dangerous. In 2013, for example, Chicago mayor
Rahm Emanuel tried to address his city’s budget crisis by
closing some public schools and moving their students to
other, nearby schools. Supporters cheered what they saw
as a necessary and responsible step toward a balanced
budget. Opponents, alarmed at the thought of children
having to walk through unfamiliar neighborhoods that
might have gang activity, condemned the mayor’s policy
as “killing our children” (Rogers, 2013). In short, people
on both sides of any issue use language to “spin” claims in
one way or another.
Problems and Social Movements
The process of claims making almost always involves
the deliberate efforts of many people working together.
A social movement is an organized effort at claims making
that tries to shape the way people think about an issue in or-
der to encourage or discourage social change. Over the past
several decades, social movements have played a key
part in the construction of numerous social problems,
including the AIDS epidemic, sexual harassment, family
violence, and the debate over a national health insur-
ance program.
Stages in Social Movements Typically, social move-
ments progress through four distinct stages, shown in
Figure 1–2, in the effort to define a condition as a social
problem (Blumer, 1969; Mauss, 1975; Tilly, 1978):
1. Emergence. The emergence of a movement occurs
when people (initially just a few) come together shar-
ing their concern about the status quo and begin to
make claims about the need for change. In 2011, for
example, a group of activists in Canada proposed
Formalization Decline
(Claims are recognized (Public interest in
as part of political debate) claims goes down)

a gathering of people in New York City’s Zuccotti
Park, and the result was the beginning of the Occupy
Wall Street movement. The protestors drew attention
to increasing economic inequality, corporate greed,
and the great influence that corporations (especially
those on Wall Street) have on the U.S. system of
government.
2. Coalescence. The coalescence of a movement occurs as
a new organization begins holding rallies and demon-
strations, making public its beliefs, and engaging in
political lobbying. After the initial “encampment” in
the Wall Street area of New York, similar protests
spread to dozens of other cities across the country and
in other nations. The mass media began to discuss the
claims made by the Occupy movement.
3. Formalization. Social movements become formalized
as they become established players on the political
scene. Although social movements usually begin with
only volunteers, at this stage the organization is likely
to include a trained and salaried staff. The Occupy
movement has attracted many volunteers and has
developed a strong presence on Facebook and other
social media. By 2014, however, Occupy was not as
prominent as it had been years before, and it now
seems clear that it has not developed the level of
formalization needed to remain a part of the political
scene. But the message of the movement has certainly
been adopted by the Democratic Party, and the issue
of economic inequality was widely discussed during
the 2016 presidential election, especially by candidate
Bernie Sanders.
4. Decline. Becoming established is no guarantee of
continuing success. Social movements may decline
because they run out of money, because their claims
fail to catch on with the public, or because opposing
organizations are more convincing. Sometimes, the
powers-that-be simply have the clout to crush a social
movement that threatens it. The legacy of the Occupy
movement will depend on whether the trend toward
income inequality continues as well as on the share
of our population that is willing to become invested
in change, as indicated by the extent to which the
Democratic Party embraces the goal of reducing eco-
nomic inequality.
At the same time, of course, a movement can decline
simply because it is successful. If enough people demand
greater economic equality, movements such as Occupy
Wall Street may no longer be necessary. Sometimes, how-
ever, organizations that succeed in reaching an initial
goal adopt new goals so that they continue to operate.
The feminist movement began with the goal of getting
women the right to vote and moved on to improving the
Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems 11
standing of women in the workplace and in the home.
More recently, MADD has shifted its attention from com-
bating drunken driving to the goal of opposing another
movement that seeks to lower the drinking age from
twenty-one to eighteen.
Social Problems: Eight Assertions
To conclude this section of the chapter, the following eight
assertions describe how sociologists approach social prob-
lems. These statements sum up much of what has already
been presented in this chapter, and they form the founda-
tion for everything that follows in this text.
1. Social problems result from the ways in which
society operates. Society shapes the lives of each
and every one of us. Because U.S. culture stresses
individualism, we tend to think that people are re-
sponsible for their own lives. As C. Wright Mills
(1959) pointed out, however, a sociological perspective
shows us that social problems are caused less by per-
sonal failings than by the operation of society itself.
For example, the increasing income inequality in the
United States results not from the fact that some peo-
ple are working harder than others but from corporate
salary policies and government tax policies that are
distributing income more and more unequally. In the
same way, the tough economic climate means that
millions of people are finding only low-paying jobs or
no jobs at all. In other words, problems such as income
inequality and unemployment have their roots in the
way our economic and political systems operate. For
this reason, correcting social problems requires change
to society itself.
2. Social problems are not caused by bad people.
This is the flip side of the first assertion. Especially
when some individual harms a lot of innocent
people—as when Bernard Madoff swindled inves-
tors out of $65 billion or when Adam Lanza shot
and killed twenty-six people in a Connecticut ele-
mentary school—we think of the problem in terms
of bad actions by evil people. The law holds us as
individuals accountable for our actions.
But, in general, pointing to “bad people” does not
go very far toward explaining social problems. It is true
that some people commit serious crimes that hurt oth-
ers. But whether the crime rate is high or low depends
not on individuals but on how society itself is orga-
nized. As Chapter 6 (“Crime, Violence, and the Criminal
Justice System”) explains, how many police we hire,
how many prisons we build, whether the economy is
strong or not, and whether all categories of people have
access to good jobs or not will go a long way toward
explaining whether the crime rate is low or high.
12 Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems
Compared with women fifty years ago, women today are much more equal to men in terms of rights
and opportunities. Yet today’s women are more likely to see gender inequality as a problem. Can you
explain this apparent contradiction?
3. Problems are socially constructed as people de-
fine a condition as harmful and in need of change.
Whatever the objective facts of any situation, people
must come to see the condition as a serious social
problem. Claims making is the process of defining a
condition as a social problem.
4. People see problems differently. Some issues, such
as the high unemployment rate in recent years, are
widely regarded as serious problems. But most issues
are matters of controversy. For example, the Obama
administration created the Affordable Care Act, which
supporters see as a needed step toward the goal of
proving everyone with health insurance. Opponents
of this law, however, claim that government is inef-
ficient, so giving government greater control over
health care is likely to make care less “affordable” and
reduce people’s range of choices about their care. As
this example suggests, one person’s “solution” may be
another person’s “problem.”
5. Definitions of problems change over time. The pub-
lic’s views on what constitutes a serious problem
change as time goes on. A century ago, the United
States was a much poorer nation where no one was
surprised to find many rural people living in shacks
and many city people living on the streets. But as
living standards rose, members of our society began
to think of safe housing as a basic right, and so bad
housing and homelessness emerged as social prob-
lems. Going in the other direction, some “problems”
of the past have largely gone away because people no
longer think of them as problems. For example, sixty
years ago, interracial marriage was illegal in many
places and was widely defined as a social problem;
such marriages, however, are now legal everywhere in
the country and raise few eyebrows today.
6. Problems involve subjective values as well as objec-
tive facts. Today, about one-third of people who have
ever been married have also been divorced. But does
this mean that there is a “divorce problem”? Facts are
important, but so are subjective perceptions about any
issue. People who value traditional families are likely to
view a high divorce rate as a serious problem. But others
who think family life can limit individual opportunities,
especially those of women, are likely to disagree.
7. Many—but not all—social problems can be solved.
One good reason to study social problems is to im-
prove society. Sociologists believe that many social
problems can be effectively addressed, if not elimi-
nated entirely. Back in 1960, for example, 35 percent of
elderly men and women in the United States lived be-
low the poverty line. Since then, rising Social Security
benefits and better employer pensions have reduced
the poverty rate to about 10 percent of all seniors,
which is less than one-third of what it used to be.
But sociologists do not expect that every social
problem will be solved. As already noted, situations
that are problems for some people are advantageous
to others, and sometimes those who benefit are pow-
erful enough to slow the pace of change or to prevent
change entirely.
The driving force behind the new Affordable
Care Act is the fact that the United States remains the
only industrial nation without a tax-funded system
that helps pay for everyone’s medical care. As the
new system has come “online,” 33 million people
lack health insurance, and strong political opposition

to universal health care (especially a system that is
entirely government funded) continues on the part of
organizations representing physicians and insurance
companies and those who seek to limit the scope of
government.
Even problems that everyone wants to solve
sometimes defy solution. For instance, just about
everyone hopes that we will find a cure for AIDS. But,
despite advances that make “living with AIDS” a real-
ity, the research breakthrough that finally cures this
disease may lie years in the future.
8. Various social problems are related. Because social
problems are rooted in the operation of society, many
social problems are related to one another. This means
that addressing one problem—say, reducing the num-
ber of children growing up in poverty—may in turn
help solve other problems, such as the high rate of
high school dropouts, drug abuse, and crime.
It is also true that solving one problem may create
a new problem that we did not expect. For example,
the invention of the automobile in the late 1800s
helped people move about more quickly and easily,
but as decades went by, automobiles were polluting
the air and causing tens of thousands of traffic deaths
every year (32,719 in 2013).
SoCIAl ProbleMS In GlobAl PerSPeCtIve
The Global Village: Problems around the World
To see just how desperate the lives of many of the world’s 7.3
billion people really are, imagine the entire planet reduced to
the size of a “global village” of 1,000 people. The global village
contains 599 Asians (including 187 citizens of the People’s
Republic of China), 160 Africans, 101 Europeans, 86 Latin
Americans, 5 residents of Australia and the South Pacific, and 49
North Americans, 44 of them from the United States.
The village is a very rich place with a vast array of
goods and services. Yet anything beyond the basics is too
expensive for almost everyone. This is because of economic
inequality: The richest 1 percent of all villagers—the ten rich‑
est people—earn 15 percent of all income, and the richest
100 villagers (10 percent) earn about half of all the income.
By contrast, the worst‑off 200 villagers (20 percent) earn just
2 percent of all income. These people are hungry every day
and even lack safe drinking water. Because of their depriva‑
tion, the poorest villagers have little energy to work and fall
victim to life‑threatening diseases (Ortiz & Cummins, 2011;
Milanovic, 2012).
Villagers boast of their fine schools, yet only 67 people (6.7
percent) have a college degree, and 137 of the village’s adult
population (13.7 percent or one in seven) cannot read or write.
Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems 13
Together, these eight assertions form a sociological
understanding of social problems. In the next section, we
turn to another important idea: Addressing many social
problems requires the use of a global perspective.
Social Problems: A Global Perspective
Many beginning students of sociology find it hard to
imagine just how serious problems such as poverty and
hunger are in the poorest regions of the world. To help you
understand the seriousness of global problems, the Social
Problems in Global Perspective box describes patterns
of inequality in a world represented by a village of 1,000
people.
Adopting a global perspective also shows us
that some social problems cross national boundar-
ies. For example, Chapter 15 (“Population and Global
Inequality”) explains that the problem of Earth’s increas-
ing human population threatens the well-being of every-
one on the planet. Chapter 16 (“Technology and the
Environment”) offers another example, showing how
people living in rich countries are consuming the plan-
et’s resources very quickly and polluting the planet’s air
and water.
Finally, a global perspective shows that many dimensions
of life—and many of life’s challenges—may be quite different
Many troubling issues such as health, illiteracy, and
poverty are much worse elsewhere in the world than in a rich
nation such as the United States. In fact, 15 percent of the
world’s people live on less than $2 a day—a standard of living
far below what we in the United States consider “poor.” This
harsh reality of suffering—detailed in Chapter 15 (“Population
and Global Inequality”)— is one good reason to take a global
perspective in our study of social problems (Milanovic, 2012;
Population Reference Bureau, 2015; World Bank, 2015;
UNESCO, 2016).
What Do You Think?
1. Do any of the facts presented in this box surprise you?
Which ones? Why?
2. As a person living in a rich nation, do you think you have a
responsibility to help solve problems in poor nations? Why
or why not?
3. Can you see ways that you, personally, benefit from the
economic inequality of our world? Can you point to ways
that you are harmed by inequality? Explain.
14 Chapter 1 Sociology: Studying Social Problems

Cindy Rucker, 29 years old, recently Although she is only 28 years old,
took time off from her job in the Baktnizar Kahn has four children,
New Orleans public school system a common pattern in Afghanistan.
Greenland
to have her first child. (Den.) Area of inset

U.S.
RUSSIA
CANADA

GEORGIA KAZAKHSTAN
MONGOLIA
UNITED UZBEKISTAN
NORTH
ARMENIA KYRGYZSTAN
STATES AZERBAIJAN TURKMENISTAN TAJIKISTAN
KOREA

TUNISIA LEBANON SYRIA CHINA SOUTH

IRAN AFGHANISTAN KOREA JAPAN
ISRAEL IRAQ
MOROCCO West Bank KUWAIT PAKISTAN BHUTAN
30° JORDAN NEPAL 30°
ALGERIA LIBYA BAHRAIN Hong
BAHAMAS QATAR
DOM. REP.
Western Sahara EGYPT SAUDI U.A.E. Kong
U.S. BELIZE Puerto Rico (U.S.) (Mor.) ARABIA INDIA MYANMAR Taiwan
MEXICO CUBA ST. KITTS & NEVIS OMAN
(BURMA) Macao
ANTIGUA & BARBUDA MAURITANIA MALI LAOS
BANGLADESH
JAMAICA HAITI DOMINICA CAPE NIGER ERITREA YEMEN
Martinique (Fr.) VERDE
SENEGAL THAILAND PHILIPPINES
ST. LUCIA
GUATEMALA GRENADA BARBADOS BURKINA CHAD SUDAN VIETNAM
ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES GAMBIA FASO NIGERIA DJIBOUTI
EL SALVADOR TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
MARSHALL
GUINEA-BISSAU CAMBODIA ISLANDS
HONDURAS VENEZUELA GUYANA GUINEA
GHANA CENT. S. ETHIOPIA PALAU
NICARAGUA French Guiana SIERRA LEONE BENIN
AFR. REP. SUDAN SRI BRUNEI FEDERATED STATES
COSTA RICA CAM. OF MICRONESIA
COLOMBIA (Fr.) LIBERIA TOGO
UGANDA
SOMALIA MALDIVES LANKA MALAYSIA
PANAMA CÔTE D’IVOIRE EQ. GUINEA RWANDA Singapore
0° KENYA 0°
ECUADOR SURINAME SAO TOME & PRINCIPE GABON
NAURU KIRIBATI
DEM. REP.
OF THE BURUNDI
REP. OF THE CONGO
CONGO TANZANIA I N D O N E S I A PAPUA
NEW GUINEA
SOLOMON
COMOROS
PERU
BRAZIL TIMOR-LESTE
ISLANDS TUVALU

ANGOLA SEYCHELLES
SAMOA MALAWI
ZAMBIA VANUATU FIJI
BOLIVIA MADAGASCAR
ZIMBABWE
NAMIBIA MAURITIUS
TONGA BOTSWANA New
PARAGUAY Caledonia
150° 120° CHILE MOZAMBIQUE AUSTRALIA (Fr.)
SWAZILAND
30° SOUTH 30°
LESOTHO
AFRICA
URUGUAY
20° 0° 20° 40° ARGENTINA NEW
0 500 Km ZEALAND

EUROPE
ICELAND
SWEDEN
FINLAND
NORWAY
90° 60° 30° 0° 30° 60° 90° 120° 150° Average Number of
60° ESTONIA
RUSSIA Births per Woman
LATVIA
DENMARK
UNITED LITHUANIA
KINGDOM BELARUS
6.0 and higher
IRELAND NETH. POLAND ANTARCTICA
BEL. GERMANY
CZECH
5.0 to 5.9
REP. SLVK.
UKRAINE
LUX.
AUS.
HUNG. MOLDOVA 4.0 to 4.9
SWITZ.
ROMANIA
FRANCE SLO.
SERBIA 3.0 to 3.9
CROATIA
BOS. & HERZ.
MONT. BULGARIA
ITALY
KOS. MAC. 2.0 to 2.9
ALB.
40° SPAIN
PORTUGAL
GREECE TURKEY 1.0 to 1.9
MALTA CYPRUS

Window on the World

Global Map 1–1 Women’s Childbearing in Global Perspective
How people live and the challenges they face differ dramatically around the world. If you are a
woman living in a high-income nation, the chances are that you will have one or two children during
your lifetime. But had you been born in one of the low-income nations of Africa, four, five, or even six
children would be the rule. Can you point to several reasons for this global disparity?
SourCe: Data from Hamilton et al. (2015) and Population Reference Bureau (2015).

elsewhere. Global Map 1–1 shows us that in rich countries widely used theoretical models: the structural-functional,
such as the United States, the typical woman has one or two social-conflict, feminist, and symbolic-interaction approaches.
children. But in a poorer country such as Guatemala, three
children is the norm. In the poorest nations, the number goes
even higher: In Ethiopia, four children is common; in Nigeria,
The Structural-Functional Approach
it’s five; and in Somalia, it’s more than six. The structural-functional approach is a theoretical framework
that sees society as a system of many interrelated parts. Sociologists
describe the main parts of this system as social institutions,
Analyzing Social Problems: major spheres of social life, or societal subsystems, organized to meet
a basic human need. For example, the structural-functional
Sociological Theory approach might explore how the family is a system to ensure
the care and raising of children, how schools provide young
1.3 Apply sociological theory to the study of social
people with the skills they need for adult life, how the econ-
problems.
omy produces and distributes material goods, how the politi-
Sociologists weave various facts into meaning using theory, cal system sets national goals and priorities, and how religion
a statement of how and why specific facts are related. Building a gives our lives purpose and meaning.
theory, in turn, depends on a theoretical approach, a basic im-
age of society that guides theory and research. Using a particular early Functional theory: Problems as Social Pathology
theoretical approach leads sociologists to ask certain ques- A century ago, the structural-functional approach looked
tions. The following sections present the discipline’s most on society as if it were a living organism. This view led to
Another random document with
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 DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
 FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
 Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA

I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
 The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

 This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY

With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
 “We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
 Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
 BRAZIER

Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT

SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB

CUTTING THE EDGE

 FINISHING THE BOTTOM

LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING

FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

 LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE

TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL

NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
 Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK

DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG

REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

 BEATING THE BARK

WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT

MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN