Page 625 - Sociology and You

Chapter 17 Social Change and Collective Behavior
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Women in the
Workplace
The number of women in the U.S. work- place is related to social change and so- cial movements. The U.S. female workforce shot up during World War II. Once the soldiers returned home, how- ever, a large percentage of those working women quit work to raise families. Owing in part to the women’s movement, the U.S. has seen a peacetime resurgence of women entering the workforce. This map shows the percentage of women in each state who are active in the labor force.
Adapted from The World Almanac of the U.S.A. 1998.
District of Columbia
Percentage of Women in the Workforce, 1996
68% or more 66%– 67.9% 62%– 65.9% 60%– 61.9% 55%–59.9% Less than 55%
Interpreting the Map
1. Relate strain theory, the women’s movement, and increased female labor force participation.
2. How does your state compare with other states in terms of female employment? Describe.
6. Social control. The sixth determinant of a social movement is ineffective social control. Actions of the media, police, courts, community leaders, and political officials can lead to the success or failure of a social movement. If the right kind of force is applied, a potential social move- ment may be prevented, even though the first five determinants are present. Efforts to control the situation may block the social movement, minimize its effects, or make matters worse. Efforts to control the antiwar movement, for example, were actually counterproductive. During the student antiwar protests following the Cambodian invasion, the Ohio National Guard, mobilized by the governor of Ohio, killed four students and wounded at least nine others on the Kent State University campus. Two African American students were killed during an antiwar protest at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Such heavy-handedness on the part of politicians and law enforcement officials only stimulated further protest that hastened the ending of the war.