All the social sciences focus on human behavior; they differ from one another not so much in the content of what each field studies, but, rather, in what the social scientists look for when they conduct their studies. [1](1. For that purpose 2. Accordingly 3. In short), to make clearer the differences between them, it might be helpful to look at how different social scientists might approach the same topic. We shall use juvenile delinquency, or simply delinquency, as our example.
Historians interested in juvenile delinquency would examine the problem in some particular past setting, such as New York City in the 1920’s or Los Angeles in the 1950’s. The historian would try to interpret delinquency by stressing the social context of the [2](1. people 2. period 3. issue). For example, if delinquent gangs in New York City in the 1920s were the focus, the historian might emphasize the social disruption caused by World War I, the problems of unassimilated, recently arrived ethnic groups, intergenerational conflict, and local political and economic situations, and so on. The historian might also document the number of gangs, as well as their ethnic [3](1. makeup 2. cutout 3. breakdown). He or she would then produce a history of juvenile delinquency in New York City in the 1920s.
Economists are less likely to study delinquent gangs or juvenile delinquency. But if they [4](1. do this 2. had done so 3. Did), they, of course, would emphasize the economic aspects of delinquency? They might determine how stolen goods are allocated within a gang. But they would be more inclined to focus on delinquency in general, emphasizing the relationships of gangs to economic factors in the country. Economists might wish to examine the [5](1. problems 2. outcomes 3. effects) of economic conditions, such as booms and busts, on the formation of gangs or on the incidence or prevalence of delinquency. They might also wish to determine the cost of juvenile delinquency to the nation in terms of property stolen and destroyed and wages paid to police and social workers.
Psychologists also have a high interest in juvenile delinquency. Using paper-and-pencil tests, they might test the hypothesis that gang leaders, when compared with their followers, have more outgoing personality traits, or greater hostility and aggressiveness. Psychologists might also compare the adolescent males who join gangs and those who do not become gang members in terms of their personality traits. They might give a series of tests to determine whether gang members are more insecure, hostile, or aggressive than nonmembers.
Sociologists are also interested in most of the aspects emphasized by the other social scientists. Sociologists, however, ordinarily are not concerned with a particular gang from some past period, as historians might be [6](1.as long as 2. although 3. since) they, too, try to identify the relevant social context. Sociologists also are interested in certain aspects of property, as an economist might be. But sociologists would be more interested in the gang members’ attitudes toward property, why delinquents feel it is legitimate to steal and vandalize, and how they [7](1. keep in 2. divide up 3. put out) the property they steal.
What sociologists choose to emphasize also separates them from psychologists. Sociologists are inclined to ignore personality, the primary focus of psychologists, and [8](1. hardly 2. instead 3. otherwise) to stress the effects of social class on recruitment into delinquency. Sociologists also examine group structure and interaction. For example, both sociologists and psychologists would be interested in the differences between a gang’s leaders and followers. To discover these, however, sociologists are not likely to give paper-and-pencil tests. They are more likely to observe face-to-face interaction among gang members. Sociologists would want to see if leaders and followers [9](1. uphold 2. outlive 3. oversee) the group’s values differently. Also they would want to see who suggests the gang’s activities, and who does what when they do their activities whether ― the activity is simply some form of recreation or a criminal act. For example, do leaders maintain their leadership by committing more acts of [10](1.self-defeating 2. overreacting 3. daring) and bravery than their followers?
Compared with other social scientists, sociologists are more likely to emphasize the routine activities of the police, the courts, and changing norms. The police approach their job with [11](1. preconceived 2. half-boiled 3. well calculated) ideas about who is likely to commit crimes and who is not. Their ideas are based on what they have experienced “on the streets,” [12](1. rather than 2. more than 3. as well as) on stereotypes nurtured within their occupation. The police typically view some people to be more apt to commit crimes than males from other areas of the city, males from a higher social class, or females [13](1. in general 2. predominantly. 3. exclusively). How do the police develop their ideas? How are such stereotypes supported in their occupational subculture? What effect do they have on the police and on those whom they encounter?
Prosecutors use much discretion. For the same act they can [14](1. level 2. direct 3. move) a variety of charges. They can charge an individual with first degree burglary, second degree burglary, breaking and [15](1. killing 2. entering 3. escaping), or merely trespassing. Sociologists want to know how such decisions are made, as well as their effects on the lives of those charged with crimes. Sociologists also study what happens when an individual comes [16](1. by 2. over 3. before) a judge, especially the outcome of the trial which may differ according to the type of offense, or the sex, age, or race of the offender. They also focus on the effects of detention and imprisonment, as well as how people adjust when they are released back into the community.
Among other things, sociologists are concerned with norms, the behaviors that people expect of others, which obviously change over time. What was considered proper behavior a generation ago is certainly not the same as what is considered proper today. [17](1. Automatically 2. Inadvertently 3. Consequently), the law changes, and acts considered to be law violations at one time are not necessarily considered criminal at another time. Similarly, acts not now considered criminal may become law violations at a later date. For example, at one point in our history, drinking alcohol in public at age sixteen was within the law in many communities, while today it would be an act of delinquency. In the same way, a person under sixteen who is on the streets after 10 p. m. [18] (1. unaccompanied 2. protected 3. forbidden) by an adult is breaking the law in some communities. But if the law is changed or if the fifteen-year-old has a birthday or moves to a different community, the same act is not a violation of the law.
Perhaps more than any of the other social scientists, the sociologist maintains a crucial interest in the effects of [19](1. well motivated 2. reliable 3. changing) legal definitions in determining what people are arrested for and charged with. In effect, sociologists are interested in what juvenile delinquency is [20](1. in detail 2. in the first place 3. in form). They take the definition of delinquency not as obvious but as problematic, something to be studied in the context of lawmaking, lawbreaking, and the workaday world of the judicial system.
By means of this example of juvenile delinquency, it is easy to see that the social sciences greatly overlap one another. Sociology, however, is an overarching social science. Sociologists are, for the most part, interested in the same things that other social scientists are interested in, and that they are, however, not as limited in the scope or focus as are the others. Wherever and whenever people come into one another’s presence, there are potential data for the sociologist. The bar, the street and the classroom even the bedroom all provide material for sociologists to observe and analyze. What sociologists study can be as socially significant as an urban riot or as common but personally significant as two people greeting with a handshake. In this sense, then, the world belongs to the sociologists.
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