Sociology
Sociology studies how societies are organized, and the consequences of varying forms of organization on people's lives. It is scientific, based upon systematic analyses of evidence; it is non-obvious, in making discoveries that might not otherwise be noticed; and it is important, in identifying opportunities and strategies for change that can improve society.
Purdue's Department of Sociology: produces world-class scholarship, in the books and articles it publishes; offers two outstanding undergraduate majors, one in Sociology and another in Law and Society; and delivers an exceptionally strong graduate program leading to the Ph.D. At the graduate level, the Department's research and training programs are currently organized into six areas: Family and Gender; Health, Aging, and the Life Course; Law and Society; Sociology of Religion; Social Inequality; and Social Movements and Political Sociology.
Linda Renzulli
Professor and Head
Research Spotlight
Gilligan, Megan, J. Jill Suitor, Marissa Rurka, Gulcin Con, and Karl Pillemer. In press. “Adult Children’s Serious Health Conditions and the Flow of Support between the Generations.” (http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/08/24/geront.gnv075 )
George, Linda K. and Kenneth F. Ferraro, editors. 2016. Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, 8th edition. San Diego, CA: Elsevier/ Academic Press.(http://store.elsevier.com/Handbook-of-Aging-and-the-Social-Sciences/isbn-9780124172357/ )
Winchester, Daniel. 2015. “The Feel of Faith.” Pp. 17-34 in Getting Culture. Eds. Douglas Hartmann and Chris Uggen. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.(http://books.wwnorton.com/books/webad.aspx?id=4294987594 )
Ferraro, Kenneth F. and Lindsay R. Wilkinson. 2015. “Alternative Measures of Self-Rated Health for Predicting Mortality: Is Past or Future Orientation More Important?” The Gerontologist 55:836-844.(http://gerontologist.oxfordjournals.org/content/55/5/836.full.pdf+html )
Jung, Jong Hyun. 2015. "A Cross-national Analysis of Religion and Attitudes toward Premarital Sex: Do Economic Contexts Matter?" Sociological Perspectives.(http://spx.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/07/18/0731121415595428.abstract )
Krishnan, Preethi and Mangala Subramaniam. 2015. “Gender, Domestic Violence, and Patterns of Conviction: Analysis of India’s Supreme Court Rulings.” Pp. 45-72 in Violence and Crime in the Family: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences (Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Volume 9), S. R. Maxwell, S. L. Blair (Eds.). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.(http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/S1530-353520150000009003 )
South, Susan C., Markus H. Schafer, and Kenneth F. Ferraro. 2015. “Genetic and Environmental Overlap between Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Physical Health.” Twin Research and Human Genetics 18:533- 544.(http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9963065&fileId=S1832427415000626 )
Suitor, J. Jill, Megan Gilligan, and Karl Pillemer. 2015. “Stability, Change, and Complexity in Later Life Families.” Pp. 206-226 in Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, 8th Edition. L.K. George & K.F. Ferraro (Eds.). NY: Elsevier/Academic.(http://store.elsevier.com/Handbook-of-Aging-and-the-Social-Sciences/isbn-9780124172357/ )
Williford, Beth and Mangala Subramaniam. 2015. “Transnational Field and Frames: Organizations in Ecuador and the US.” Pp. 37-67 in Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Volume 38. Patrick G. Coy (Ed.). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group.(http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/S0163-786X20150000038002 )
Leamaster, Reid J. and Mangala Subramaniam. 2015. “Career and/or Motherhood? Gender and the LDS Church.”(http://spx.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/10/01/0731121415603852.full.pdf+html )
Robert Perrucci and Carolyn Cummings Perrucci. 2015. “The Triple Revolution, 1965-2015: Revisiting Institutional Social Problems.” International Journal of Contemporary Sociology 52:213-230.(http://www.researchgate.net/publication/272175017_The_Triple_Revolution_1965-2015_Revisiting_Institutional_Social_Problems )
Suitor, J. Jill, Megan Gilligan, Siyun Peng, Jong Hyun Jung, & Karl Pillemer. 2015. “Role of Perceived Maternal Favoritism and Disfavoritism in Adult Children’s Psychological Well-Being.”(http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~jsuitor/within-family-differences-study/publications/Role%20of%20Perceived%20Maternal%20Favoritism%20and%20Disfavoritism.pdf )
Kadowaki, Joy. (2015). "Maintaining Professionalism: Emotional Labor Among Lawyers as Client Advisors." International Journal of the Legal Profession. Online First.(http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09695958.2015.1071257 )
Mustillo, Sarah, Ashleigh Kysar-Moon, Susan R. Douglas, Ryan Hargraves, Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, and Nicole Frazier. 2015 “Overview of Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Misuse among Active Duty Service Members Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, Self-Report and Diagnosis.” Military Medicine 180:4:419-427. (http://publications.amsus.org/doi/pdf/10.7205/MILMED-D-14-00335 )
Ferraro, Kenneth F. 2016. “Life Course Lens on Aging and Health.” Pp. 389-406 in Handbook of the Life Course (edited by Michael J. Shanahan, Jeylan T. Mortimer, and Monica K. Johnson). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.(http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-20880-0_18 )
Raridon, Andrew, and Tamara L. Mix. 2016. “ ‘That’s Not Grassfed!’ Identity Formation, Maintenance, and Co-optation in Oklahoma’s Grassfed Livestock Movement.” Sociological Inquiry (in press). (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/soin.12103/abstract )
Umberson, Debra, Mieke Beth Thomeer, Kristi Williams, Patricia A. Thomas, and Hui Liu. 2015. “Childhood Adversity and Men’s Relationships in Adulthood: Life Course Processes and Racial Disadvantage.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (advance access). (http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/11/19/geronb.gbv091.abstract )
Winchester, Daniel. 2015. “Converting to Continuity: Temporality and Self in Eastern Orthodox Conversion Narratives.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 54(3): 439-460. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12211/abstract)
Yang, Fenggang, Shining Gao and Xiangping Li (eds.). 2015. Fieldwork and Beyond: Studies of Chinese Religion and Chinese Society, Volume 1: Theory and Reality. Taipei: Taiwan Jidujiao Wenyi Chubanshe.
Gao, Shining and Fenggang Yang. 2015. “Religious Faith and the Market Economy: A Survey of Faith and Trust of Catholic Entrepreneurs in China.” The Ecumenical Review 67(1):120-140. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/erev.12141/abstract?ct=t(10/30/14) )
Suitor, J. Jill, Gulcin Con, and Megan Gilligan. 2015. “Mixed Methods.” in Encyclopedia of Adulthood and Aging. NY: Wiley-Blackwell. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118521373.wbeaa160/abstract )
Suitor, J. Jill, Megan Gilligan, Gulcin Con, Kaitlin Johnson, and Siyun Peng. 2015. “Parent-Adult Child Relations.” in Encyclopedia of Adulthood and Aging. NY: Wiley-Blackwell. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118521373.wbeaa161/abstract )
Yang, Fenggang, Shining Gao and Xiangping Li (eds.). 2015. Fieldwork and Beyond: Studies of Chinese Religion and Chinese Society, Volume 2: Communication and Change (Chinese). Taipei: Taiwan Christian Literature Press.
Edgell, Penny, Kathleen Hull, Kyle Green, and Daniel Winchester. 2016. “Reasoning Together Through Telling Stories: How People Talk about Social Controversies.” Qualitative Sociology 39(1):1-26. (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11133-015-9321-4 )
Ferraro, Kenneth F., Markus H. Schafer, and Lindsay R. Wilkinson. 2016. “Childhood Disadvantage and Health Problems in Middle and Later Life: Early Imprints on Physical Health?” American Sociological Review 81(1):107-133. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0003122415619617)
Xu, Minle, Patricia A. Thomas, and Debra Umberson. 2016. “Marital Quality and Cognitive Limitations in Late Life.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 71(1): 165-176. (http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/71/1/165 )
Ferraro, Kenneth F. and Patricia M. Morton. 2016. “What Do We Mean by Accumulation? Advancing Conceptual Precision for a Core Idea in Gerontology” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 71:(advance access). (http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/02/15/geronb.gbv094.long )
Light, Michael T. 2016. “The Punishment Consequences of Lacking National Membership in Germany, 1998- 2010.” Social Forces 94:1385-1408. (http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/07/15/sf.sov084.abstract )
Light, Michael T. and John Iceland. 2016. “The Social Context of Racial Boundary Negotiations: Segregation, Hate Crime, and Hispanic Racial Identification in Metropolitan America.” Sociological Science (February 8). (https://www.sociologicalscience.com/articles-v3-4-61/ )
Thomas, Patricia A. 2016. “The Impact of Relationship- Specific Support and Strain on Depressive Symptoms across the Life Course.” Journal of Aging and Health 28(2):363-382. (http://jah.sagepub.com/content/28/2/363 )
Yang, Fenggang. 2016. “Confucianism as Civil Religion.” Pp. 25-46 in Confucianism, A Habit of the Heart, edited by Philip J. Ivanhoe and Sungmoon Kim. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. (http://www.sunypress.edu/p-6185-confucianism-a-habit-of-the-hea.aspx )
Beaman, Jean. 2016. “As French as Anyone Else’: Islam and the North African Second-Generation in France.” International Migration Review 50(1)(Spring): 41-69. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275837123_As_French_as_Anyone_Else_Islam_and_the_North_African_Second_Generation_in_France )
Pillemer, Karl, J. Jill Suitor, Catherine Riffin, and Megan Gilligan. 2015. "“Adult“ Children’s Problems and Mothers’ Well-Being: Does Parental Favoritism Matter?” Research on Aging 38.DOI:10.1177/0164027515611464 (http://roa.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/10/16/0164027515611464.abstract?rss=1 )
J. Jill Suitor, Megan Gilligan, Siyun Peng, Gulcin Con, Marissa Rurka and Karl Pillemer. "My Pride and Joy? Predicting Favoritism and Disfavoritism in Mother–Adult Child Relations.” Journal of Marriage and Family Vol. 78. DOI:10.1111/jomf.12288 (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12288/abstract )
Yang, Fenggang. 2016. “The growth and dynamism of Chinese Christianity.” In Christianity and Freedom, Volume 2: Contemporary Perspectives, edited by Allen D. Hertzke and Timothy Samuel Shah. Cambridge University Press. (http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/law/socio-legal-studies/christianity-and-freedom-volume-2 )
Subramaniam, Mangala and Preethi Krishnan. "Stranded between the Law, Family, and Society: Women in Domestic Violence and Rulings of India's Supreme Court." Current Sociology. (http://csi.sagepub.com/content/64/4/603 )
Longhofer, Wesley and Daniel Winchester (Eds). 2016. Social Theory Re-Wired: New Connections to Classical and Contemporary Perspectives, 2nd edition. New York: Routledge. (http://routledgesoc.com/ )
Lu, Jun and Qin Gao. 2016. "Faith and Happiness in China: Roles of Religious Identity, Beliefs, and Practice." Social Indicators Research. (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11205-016-1372-8 )
Olson, Daniel V.A. and Miao Li. 2015. "How Does the Religious Composition of Nations Affect Generalized Social Trust? Moral Community and Religious Heterogeneity." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 54:756-773. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12231/abstract )
Smith-Greenaway, Emily and Christie Sennott. 2016. "Death and Desirability: Retrospective Reporting of Unintended Pregnancy after a Child's Death." Demography 53:805-834. (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13524-016-0475-9/fulltext.html )
Subramaniam, Mangala. 2016. "NGOs and Grassroots Organizing." Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies, edited by Nancy Naples, Maithree Wickramasinghe, and Angela Wong Wai Ching. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss187/abstract?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage= )
Bauldry, Shawn, Michael J. Shanahan, Ross Macmillan, Richard Miech, Danielle Dean, and Veronica Cole. 2016. "Parental and Adolescent Health Behaviors and Pathways to Adulthood." Social Science Research 58:227-242. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X16000363 )
Bauldry, Shawn, Michael J. Shanahan, Rosemary Russo, Brent W. Roberts, and Rodica Damian. 2016. "Attractiveness Compensates for Low Status Background in the Prediction of Educational Attainment." PLOS ONE June 1:1-15. (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0155313 )
Shura, Robin, Elle Rochford, and Brian K. Gran. 2016. "Children For Sale? The Blurred Boundary between Intercountry Adoption and Sale of Children in the United States." International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 36:319-334. (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/IJSSP-03-2015-0034 )
Suitor, J. Jill, Megan Gilligan, Siyun Peng, Gulcin Con, Marissa Rurka, and Karl Pillemer. 2016. "My Pride and Joy? Predicting Favoritism and Disfavoritism in Mother-Adult Child Relations." Journal of Marriage and Family 78:908-925. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jomf.12288/full )
Yang, Fenggang. 2016. "Exceptionalism or Chinamerica: Measuring Religious Change in the Globalizing World Today." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 55:7-22. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jssr.12253/full )
Umberson, Debra, Mieke Beth Thomeer, Kristi Williams, Patricia A. Thomas, and Hui Liu. 2016. "Childhood Adversity and Men's Relationships in Adulthood: Life Course Processes and Racial Disadvantage." Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 71(5):902-913. (http://psychsocgerontology.oxfordjournals.org/content/71/5/902.full )
Budd, Kristen, Mary J. Burbrink, and Tyrell A. Connor. "Team Member's Perceptions on Sex Offender Court's Failure to Launch: A Pilot Study." Journal of Sexual Aggression. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13552600.2016.1191682?scroll=top&needAccess=true )
Jung, Jong Hyun, Scott Schieman, and Christopher G. Ellison. 2016. "Socioeconomic Status and Religious Beliefs among U.S. Latinos: Evidence from the 2006 Hispanic Religion Survey." Review of Religious Research. (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13644-016-0265-2/fulltext.html?view=classic )
Mustillo, Sarah A. and Ashleigh Kysar-Moon. 2016. "Race, Gender, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the US Military Differential Vulnerability?" Armed Forces & Society. (http://afs.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/06/14/0095327X16652610.abstract )
Winchester, Daniel. 2016. "A Hunger for God: Embodied Metaphor as Cultural Cognition in Action." Social Forces. (http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/08/17/sf.sow065.abstract )
Hoffmann, Elizabeth A. 2016. “Emotions and Emotional Labor at Worker-Owned Businesses: Deep Acting, Surface Acting, and Genuine Emotions” The Sociological Quarterly 57: 152–173. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/tsq.12113/full)
Hoffmann, Elizabeth A. 2016. “Labor Education’s Evolving Forms and Expanding Applicability.” Labor Studies Journal 41:5-8. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0160449X16630486)
Peng, Siyun, J. Jill Suitor, and Megan Gilligan. 2016. “The Long Arm of Maternal Differential Treatment: Effects of Recalled and Current Favoritism on Adult Children’s Psychological Well-Being.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences. (https://academic.oup.com/psychsocgerontology/article/doi/10.1093/geronb/gbw105/2631934/The-Long-Arm-of-Maternal-Differential-Treatment)
Perrucci, Robert, Mangala Subramaniam, Carolyn C. Perrucci. 2016. "Who Publishes in Leading Sociology Journals, 1965-2010?" In E. Wright II & T. C. Calhoun (Eds.) What to Expect and How to Respond: Success and Distress in Academia. Rowman & Littlefield. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277141598_Who_Publishes_in_Leading_Sociology_Journals)
Sennott, Christie and Nicole Angotti [equal authorship]. 2016. “Reconsidering Gendered Sexualities in a Generalized AIDS Epidemic.” Gender & Society. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0891243216672805)
Winchester, Daniel. 2016. "Religion as Theoretical Case, Lens, and Resource for Critique: Three Ways Social Theory Can Learn from the Study of Religion.” Sociology of Religion. (https://academic.oup.com/socrel/article-abstract/77/3/241/2346070/Religion-as-Theoretical-Case-Lens-and-Resource-for?redirectedFrom=PDF)
Leamaster, Reid J. and Mangala Subramaniam. 2016. “Career and/or Motherhood? Gender and the LDS Church.” Sociological Perspectives. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0731121415603852)
Kemp, Blakelee R., Kenneth F. Ferraro, Patricia M. Morton, and Sarah Mustillo. 2017. “Early Origins of Adult Cancer Risk Among Men and Women: Influence of Childhood Misfortune?” Journal of Aging and Health. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0898264316670049)
Maria Paino, Rebecca L. Boylan, and Linda A. Renzulli. 2016. “The Closing Door: The Effect of Race on Charter School Closures” Sociological Perspectives. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0731121416674948)
Morton, Patricia M., Nicholas A. Turiano, Daniel K. Mroczek, and Kenneth F. Ferraro. 2017. “Childhood Misfortune, Personality, and Heart Attack: Does Personality Mediate Risk of Myocardial Infarction?” Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences 71. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298054627_Childhood_Misfortune_Personality_and_Heart_Attack_Does_Personality_Mediate_Risk_of_Myocardial_Infarction)
Sennott, Christie and Sanyu Mojola. 2016. “’Behaving Well’: The Transition to Respectable Womanhood in Rural South Africa.” Culture, Health & Sexuality. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2016.1262062?scroll=top&needAccess=true&)
Young, Lisa J. and Mangala Subramaniam. “Eco-critical Consciousness Meets Oppositional Consciousness: Reading Early Chicago Housing Activism through an Environmental Lens.” Sociological Focus. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00380237.2017.1251764)
Tong, Joy and Fenggang Yang. 2016. “Trust at Work: A Study on Faith and Trust of Protestant Entrepreneurs in China.” Religions. (http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/7/12/136/htm)
Useem, Bert, Dan Pacholke and Sandy Felkey Mullins "Case Study – The Making of an Institutional Crisis: The Mass Release of Inmates by a Correctional Agency" Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, December, 2016. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/doi/10.1111/1468-5973.12146/full)
Jung, Jong Hyun. 2017. "Childhood Adversity, Religion, and Change in Adult Mental Health." Research on Aging. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0164027516686662)
Bauldry, Shawn and Magdalena Szaflarski. 2017. “Immigrant-Based Disparities in Mental Health Care Utilization.” Socius. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2378023116685718)
Jung, Jong Hyun. 2017. “Religion and the Sense of Control in Cross-national Perspective: The Importance of Religious Context." Social Currents. (http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2329496516686615)
Cockerham, William C., Shawn Bauldry, Bryant Hamby, James Shikany, and Sejong Bae. 2017. “A Comparison of Black and White Racial Differences in Health Lifestyles and Cardiovascular Disease.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379716304597)
