Sociology and Modern Social Problems

Charles A. (Charles Abram) Ellwood

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• Publié par: vuwyar
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 44
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sociology and Modern Social Problems by Charles A. Ellwood Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the header without written permission. Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. **Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** **eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** *****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** Title: Sociology and Modern Social Problems Author: Charles A. Ellwood Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6568] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on December 28, 2002] Edition: 10 Language: English *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOCIOLOGY *** Produced by Julie Barkley, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. SOCIOLOGY AND MODERN SOCIAL PROBLEMS BY CHARLES A. ELLWOOD, PH. D. Professor of Sociology, University of Missouri PREFACE This book is intended as an elementary text in sociology as applied to modern social problems, for use in institutions where but a short time can be given to the subject, in courses in sociology where it is desired to combine it with a study of current social problems on the one hand, and to correlate it with a course in economics on the other. The book is also especially suited for use in University Extension Courses and in Teachers' Reading Circles.This book aims to teach the simpler principles of sociology concretely and inductively. In Chapters I to VIII the elementary principles of sociology are stated and illustrated, chiefly through the study of the origin, development, structure, and functions of the family considered as a typical human institution; while in Chapters IX to XV certain special problems are considered in the light of these general principles. Inasmuch as the book aims to illustrate the working of certain factors in social organization and evolution by the study of concrete problems, interpretation has been emphasized rather than the social facts themselves. However, the book is not intended to be a contribution to sociological theory, and no attempt is made to give a systematic presentation of theory. Rather, the student's attention is called to certain obvious and elementary forces in the social life, and he is left to work out his own system of social theory. To guide the student in further reading, a brief list of select references in English has been appended to each chapter. Methodological discussions and much statistical and historical material have been omitted in order to make the text as simple as possible. These can be found in the references, or the teacher can supply them at his discretion. The many authorities to whom I am indebted for both facts and interpretations of facts cannot be mentioned individually, except that I wish to express my special indebtedness to my former teachers, Professor Willcox of Cornell and Professors Small and Henderson of the University of Chicago, to whom I am under obligation either directly or indirectly for much of the substance of this book. The list of references will also indicate in the main the sources of whatever is not my own. CHARLES A. ELLWOOD. UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI. CONTENTS CHAPTER I: THE STUDY OF SOCIETY CHAPTER II: THE BEARING OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION UPON SOCIAL PROBLEMS CHAPTER III: THE FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY IN SOCIAL ORGANIZATION CHAPTER IV: THE ORIGIN OF THE FAMILY CHAPTER V: THE FORMS OF THE FAMILY CHAPTER VI: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE FAMILY CHAPTER VII: THE PROBLEM OF THE MODERN FAMILY CHAPTER VIII: THE GROWTH OF POPULATION CHAPTER IX: THE IMMIGRATION PROBLEM CHAPTER X: THE NEGRO PROBLEM CHAPTER XI: THE PROBLEM OF THE CITY CHAPTER XII: POVERTY AND PAUPERISM CHAPTER XIII: CRIME CHAPTER XIV: SOCIALISM IN THE LIGHT OF SOCIOLOGY CHAPTER XV: EDUCATION AND SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEXSOCIOLOGY AND MODERN SOCIAL PROBLEMS CHAPTER I THE STUDY OF SOCIETY What is Society?—Perhaps the great question which sociology seeks to answer is this question which we have put at the beginning. Just as biology seeks to answer the question "What is life?"; zoölogy, "What is an animal?"; botany, "What is a plant?"; so sociology seeks to answer the question "What is society?" or perhaps better, "What is association?" Just as biology, zoölogy, and botany cannot answer their questions until those sciences have reached their full and complete development, so also sociology cannot answer the question "What is society?" until it reaches its final development. Nevertheless, some conception or definition of society is necessary for the beginner, for in the scientific discussion of social problems we must know first of all what we are talking about. We must understand in a general way what society is, what sociology is, what the relations are between sociology and other sciences, before we can study the social problems of to-day from a sociological point of view. The word "society" is used scientifically to designate the reciprocal relations between individuals. More exactly, and using the term in a concrete sense, a society is any group of individuals who have more or less conscious relations to each other. We say conscious relations because it is not necessary that these relations be specialized into industrial, political, or ecclesiastical relations. Society is constituted by the mental interaction of individuals and exists wherever two or three individuals have reciprocal conscious relations to each other. Dependence upon a common economic environment, or the mere contiguity in space is not sufficient to constitute a society. It is the interdependence in function on the mental side, the contact and overlapping of our inner selves, which makes possible that form of collective life which we call society. Plants and lowly types of organisms do not constitute true societies, unless it can be shown that they have some degree of mentality. On the other hand, there is no reason for withholding the term "society" from many animal groups. These animal societies, however, are very different in many respects from human society, and are of interest to us only as certain of their forms throw light upon human society. We may dismiss with a word certain faulty conceptions of society. In some of the older sociological writings the word society is often used as nearly synonymous with the word nation. Now, a nation is a body of people politically organized into an independent government, and it is manifest that it is only one of many forms of human society. Another conception of society, which some have advocated, is that it is synonymous with the cultural group. That is, a society is any group of people that have a common civilization, or that are bearers of