Education and gender stereotyping

This short article (based on research by Lavy and Sandm, 2015) is a simple introduction to some of the ways gender stereotypes are perpetuated in early-years schooling. The research can also be linked to the work done by writers such as Rosenthal and Jacobson (Pygmalion in the Classroom: 1968) in exploring the significance of labelling and […]

Crime Statistics: The Dark Figure video

A request from an American University to use this video in an online course prompted me to remember its existence on my YouTube Channel. It’s a short video that looks at the “dark figure” of crime – crimes that are committed in our society but which never appear in the official recorded crime statistics. As such […]

Using Analogies in A-level Sociology

Analogies are a useful teaching tool in sociology for a number of reasons: They can help students to understand something complex and unfamiliar by using ideas that are relatively simple and familiar. They can be used to engage students in collaborative work, the outcome of which is an expansion of their knowledge and understanding through […]

Education and Class

A research snippet from the Sutton Trust (2014) that suggests inequalities in extra-curricular tuition and activities can have an impact on differential educational achievement.

Neutralising Deviance

Matza’s (1964) notion of “Delinquency and Drift” is particularly useful for the way it looks at “techniques of neutralisation” and while these ideas are still relevant the focus has tended to be on the behaviour of individual, mainly lower class, deviants. It would, however, be a mistake to think Matza’s ideas can’t be applied to […]

Elizabeth Loftus on False Memory

Divided into three complementary sections: • Repressed Memories • Lost in the Mall • Guided Imagination False Memory features original interview footage with Elizabeth Loftus as she takes us through the “Memory Wars” surrounding the George Franklin and Jane Doe cases.

Stanford Prison Experiment

Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) has provoked controversy over, among other things, its design, procedures, ethics, interpretation and conclusions. It does, however, remain a provocative classic of its type – with uses in both psychology and sociology – and this short film is a good overview / introduction to some of the issues involved.

Media Representations

If you’re looking for a good illustration of what Baudrillard meant by “The Gulf War Did Not Take Place” this article is worth checking-out.