Ingroups and Outgroups

By the time children are in the early grades of school, much of their activity takes place within social groups. They eagerly join some groups, but avoid — or are excluded from — others. Based on sex as a master status, for example, girls and boys often form distinct play groups with patterns of behaviour culturally defined as feminine and masculine. On the basis of sex, employment, family ties, personal tastes, or some other category, people often identify others positively with one social group while opposing other groups. Across the United States, for example, many high school students wear jackets with the name of their school on the back and place school decals on their car windows to symbolize their membership in the school as a social group. Students who attend another school may be the subject of derision simply because they are members of a competing group. This illustrates the general process of forming ingroups and outgroups. An ingroup is a social group with which people identify and toward which they feel a sense of loyalty. An ingroup exists in relation to an outgroup. which is a social group with which people do not identify and toward which they feel a sense of competition or opposition. Defining social groups this way is commonplace. A sports team is an ingroup to its members and an outgroup to members of other teams. The Democrats in a certain community may see themselves as an ingroup in relation to Republicans. In a broader sense, Americans share some sense of being an ingroup in relation to Russian citizens or other nationalities. All ingroups and outgroups are created by the process of believing that «we» have valued characteristics that «they» do not. This process serves to sharpen the boundaries among social groups, giving people a clearer sense of their location in a world of many social groups. It also heightens awareness of the distinctive characteristics of various social groups, though not always in an accurate way. Research has shown, however, that the members of ingroups hold unrealistically positive views of themselves and unfairly negative views of various outgroups. Ethnocentrism, for example, is the result of overvaluing one's own way of life, while simultaneously devaluing other cultures as outgroups.

Deviance is a Product of Society?

We tend to believe that deviance is a result of an individual's free choice on personal failings. But, as our discussion of culture, social structure, and socialization showed, all social behaviour — deviance as well as conformity — is rooted in society. This is evident in three ways.

1. Deviance exists only in relation to cultural norms. No thought or action is inherently deviant. Rather, it becomes so only in relation to the norms of a particular culture or subculture. Norms vary considerably from one culture to another, so that conceptions of deviance vary as well. In the traditional village communities of Sicily, for example, cultural norms support the use of physical violence to avenge an insult to the honour in one's family. In this case, not to avenge an insult would be defined as deviant. Within American society, however, cultural norms do not support the use of violence in this way. Therefore, what is honourable in Sicily is likely to result in arrest and prosecution in the United States. As cultural norms change over time, so do conceptions of deviance. In the 1920s, American cultural norms linked women's lives to the home, so that a woman who wanted to become a corporate executive, for instance, would certainly have been considered deviant. Today, however, there is far greater support for allowing women t he opportunity to pursue a career outside of the home. Consequently, career women are no longer defined as deviant.

2. People become deviant as others define them that way. We all violate cultural norms, and even commit crimes, from time to time. For example, most of us have at some point walked around talking to ourselves, taken something that belonged to someone else, or driven another person's automobile without permission. Simply doing any of the=se things, however, is not sufficient to be defined as mentally ill or criminal. Whether or not a person is defined as deviant depends on the perception and definition of tlie situation by others — a process that is quite variable. To a large extent, of course, being defined as deviant depends not only on norm violation, but also on being caught by others. Even then, however, the activity in question may be perceived in different ways. For example, a male celebrity can dress like a woman on stage to the praise of adoring fans, while elsewhere another man doing the same thing might well provoke a quite negative response. Whether or not a person is defined as deviant, therefore, depends on the variable process of social definition.

3. Both cultural norms and defining someone as deviant are related to patterns of social power. Cultural norms — especially laws — are likely to protect the interests of the most powerful people in a society. For example, closing a factory permanently is within the legal rights of a factory owner, even though doing so may put thousands of people out of work. At the same time, a less powerful person who commits vandalism that closes a factory for a single day is likely to be defined as criminal. Powerless people may be defined as deviant for exactly the same behaviour that powerful people engage in with impunity. For example, a homeless person who stands on a street corner and denounces the city government may be arrested for disturbing place. On the other hand, a candidate trying to unseat the mayor during an election campaign can do the same thing while receiving extensive police protection.

In sum, while commonly understood as a quality of individuals, deviance is inseparable from the operation of society.

Brain Drain: a Natural Phenomenon?

Nowadays we are hearing less and less about how detrimental brain drain is to Russia. Have we, like the rest of the world, begun to see it as something natural?

The consolation is that these days, leaving the country does not necessarily mean saying good-bye forever. Indeed, in recent years, for every scientist who emigrates for good, there are four who are working on a contract basis. Their lifestyle is like a watchman's job — one shift returns, and another leaves. They usually receive temporary grants, and travel from country to country.

Often they simply go because they can't continue their research at a contemporary level in Russia, due to the lack of equipment, reactants, or the fact that they just can't get the information they need. In the meantime, the level of this «internal scientific emigration» is at least twice as high as its «external» counterpart.

According to the official emigration statistics, most of our émigré scientists and pedagogical workers ended up in Germany, although those who emigrate to Germany usually end up changing their professions. So, in fact, three quarters of the people who actively work in the field of fundamental sciences are currently employed in the United States and Canada. Others go to Israel and Australia, while recently they've also started heading out to Latin American countries like Panama, Columbia and Mexico. There are also more exotic destinations like Trinidad, Namibia and Jamaica. They comprise the Russian scientific diaspora.

The term diaspora, or «dispersal», has historically been used to characterize people who are drawn to one another across a distance. The ethnic-Russian scientific diaspora, which is scattered throughout the entire world, was able to become «glued together» very quickly with the help of computer communication systems.

First the Russian scientists had mailing lists; now they also have Web sites. One of the most popular mailing lists is the INFO-RUSS project, which links over 1,200 subscribers. This form of correspondence is open to everybody. According to recent calculations, appro­ximately 14,000-18,000 scientists from Russia have been working abroad in the field of fundamental sciences.

Lately, the processes of intellectual migration have become more stable and have taken on more civilized forms. Today, the West is buying out Russian young programmers. Fourth-year students studying at faculties of computational mathematics and cybernetics can now receive stipends from foreign organizations. There are representatives of firms recruiting students to work abroad standing by at the famous technical schools.

A big-name professor may choose the specific universities he would like to work in, but his students are willing to take any job, even one that has nothing to do with major science. They are being hired to create virtual casinos, and to develop banking services and new telecommunication technologies.

But science schools can't exist without students. And Russia needs to hang on for about another 10 years, until it gets some fresh blood. The only people to count on are the kids who are currently in third and fourth grades.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-29