To believers, the Moonies offer truth, enlightenment and the spiritual unification of the world. To critics it’s an evil form of bondage, where vulnerable young people are reduced to a mental condition where they can only follow the orders of the organization. Eileen Barker set out to discover the truth behind the headlines. Do people choose to become Moonies or are they brainwashed? The Moonies also seemed an excellent case study to explore the wider sociological issue of the relationship between the individual and society.
Languages: English
-
Jock Young on The Drugtakers
The Drugtakers is one of the clearest and most dramatic examples of deviance amplification. In this program Jock Young discusses what is meant by a ‘sociological approach’ to drug use, the importance of looking at societal reaction and some of the benefits and difficulties of using ethnographic methods.
-
Michelle Stanworth on Gender and Schooling
In the 1970’s the majority of secondary school students were being educated in mixed comprehensives, with girls and boys getting much the same education. But were they? Michelle Stanworth set out to explore this question and her study became a benchmark for feminist approaches to the sociology of education.
-
Paul Willis on Learning to Labor
In this program Willis talks about how his interest in culture and counter culture led him into exploring working class culture and its reproduction from the inside. He discusses his ethnographic research methods, how he chose his subjects and his relationship with the notorious ‘lads’. In contrast to the conventional sociological view of the time that saw the education system ‘failing’ working class youth, Willis argued that the lads he observed were deliberately failing themselves in recognition of the inevitable manual working future that awaited them.
-
Peter Townsend on Poverty in the UK
It was widely believed that poverty in Britain had been all but eliminated with the construction of the welfare state and post War affluence. But while politicians were telling people they had never had it so good, social scientists were re-discovering poverty. The most influential of these was Peter Townsend, whose study of poverty in the 1960’s and 70’s was one of the most detailed ever undertaken in Britain.
-
Stanley Cohen on Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The Creation of Mods and Rockers
A wet bank holiday weekend in Clacton: some fights broke out on the beach, huts were damaged and somebody fired a starting pistol. Hardly a riot, but that was how the media reported it. Reading the reports, Stan Cohen thought it would be an ideal case study for the newly evolving labeling theory. He describes his research in a number of seaside resorts, ploughing through newspaper reports, visiting social control agencies in suit and tie and changing to do participant observation research on the beaches in the clubs.
-
Sexually Transmitted Infections: What We Can’t See
This program combines an engaging story with the straight forward commentary from expert speakers; Doctor Cindy Pan and Phillip Patterson (Melbourne Sexual Health Clinic). In the style of the movie “Sliding Doors”, we follow two different scenarios that look at the health consequences of a young couple’s lifestyle decisions, and in the process present information about a range of sexually transmitted infections and the short and long term consequences of contracting them. Particular focus is paid to Chlamydia, Hepatitis B, PID, HIV, Genital Warts and Herpes, Pubic Lice and safe sex practices.
-
Sport in Society
This program examines the socio-cultural nature of sport in modern society. It outlines: The origins of sport from play and games; The growth of sport as recreation; How the split has developed between active and passive participation; The factors determining people’s involvement in sport; The effect sport has on health and well-being; The place of sport in our culture, with particular reference to the impact of government policy, business and media intervention.
-
Tattoos, Pedals and Things Bizarre
This program looks at four small businesses in various stages of development.Two are start-up businesses that have only been in operation for 12-18 months. The other two business owners have around twenty-five years of experience between them. Included is a husband and wife floor restoration business that uses only natural plant-based oils. We also see a tattoo artist, a bike shop proprietor, and a young man and woman who have opened a cross between a retail store and a museum, selling scientific curiosities. Each of the business operators is asked a range of similar questions that consider their start up, the running of the business on a daily basis, and the future they see for themselves. Areas covered include financing the business, ownership, location, market research, the business plan, marketing, accounts and stock control, competition and staff, among others.
-
Ann Oakley on Housewife
In this program Ann Oakley talks about how she started her research on housework and the opposition she encountered. She goes on to discuss her sampling methods, her interview techniques, the importance of keeping some social distance as well as avoiding leading questions, and why she highlighted particular case studies.