SOCIOLOGY

CAPITALISM

Sociology has no complete, formal consensus on a specific definition of capitalism. The discipline of sociology itself arose as an attempt to understand and explain the emergence and nature of modern capitalist societies. Sociology’s founding theorists were very much concerned with the development of capitalism. Emile Durkheim sought to find the bases of new forms […]

CASTE AND INHERITED STATUS

The study of social inequalities is one of the most important areas of sociology as inequalities in property, power, and prestige have long-term consequences on access to the basic necessities of life such as good health, education, and a well-paying job. Unequal resources between groups also influence their interaction with all the basic institutions of […]

CASE STUDIES

There is a sense in which virtually every activity that we associate with sociology might be called ”case studies.” These activities include the generation of samples (which are made up of individual cases) for statistical analysis, the use of empirical examples (or cases) to illustrate aspects of general sociological theories, and comparative analyses of the […]

CAUSAL INFERENCE MODELS

The notion of causality has been controversial for a very long time, and yet neither scientists, social scientists, nor laypeople have been able to think constructively without using a set of explanatory concepts that, either explicitly or not, have implied causes and effects. Sometimes other words have been substituted, for example, consequences, results, or influences. […]

CENSORSHIP AND THE REGULATION OF EXPRESSION

Modern discussions of censorship center on the legitimacy of the regulatory structures and actions through which expression and communication are governed, and the extent to which these structures meet the requirements of democratic societies. In this entry, we first survey prominent historical examples of centralized censorship systems in the West. This history provides a context […]

CENSUS

A national census of population is ”the total process of collecting, compiling, evaluating, analysing and publishing or otherwise disseminating demographic, economic, and social data pertaining, at a specified time, to all persons in a country” (United Nations 1988, p. 3). The United Nations encourages its members to take regular censuses and provides technical assistance. It […]

CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE

Although child abuse is probably as old as childhood itself, serious research into child abuse arguably began in 1962 with the publication of Kempe and colleagues’ seminal paper, ”The Battered Child Syndrome” (Kempe, Silverman, Steele, Droegemuller, and Silver 1962). Not long afterwards, health care professionals began to direct their attention to the specific problem of […]

CLINICAL SOCIOLOGY

Clinical sociology is a humanistic, multidisciplinary specialization that seeks to improve the quality of people’s lives. Clinical sociologists assess situations and reduce problems through analysis and intervention. Clinical analysis is the critical assessment of beliefs, policies, and/or practices with an interest in improving a situation. Intervention, the creation of new systems as well as the […]

CLASS AND RACE

There is considerable debate in the sociology of race relations over how social inequality based on class and that based on race intertwine or intersect. Are these separate dimensions of inequality that simply coexist? Or are they part of the same reality? Efforts to develop an understanding of the relationship between class and race have […]

CIVIL LIBERTIES

Civil liberties and associated controversies reflect the basic sociological issue of what may comprise the requirements of a free yet sustainable society. Classical interests of social thought directly or indirectly concern civil liberties because they address the degree to which individuals may exercise autonomy within the bounds of enduring social relations and community needs. Some […]

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