Majority-Minority Relations (5th Edition)

Majority-Minority Relations (5th Edition)

By: John E. Farley  

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Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5

Publisher: Prentice Hall

Customer Review: 5 out of 5
A FABULOUS TEXT if you want to learn - I have used this text to teach an undergraduate sociology course, specifically because it was the only text I found that approached minority-majority relations from a sociological perspective, and not from a "humanities" perspective, (not that there is anything wrong with Humanities, but I was teaching sociology, not humanities, and not race history).

Because the text is sociology, and not a compendium of racial conflicts in America, students and other readers should expect to learn new material, to acquire new concepts. This type of reading does require more time and effort than a special interest column in a newspaper. If you are looking for "edutainment," then this book is probably not for you unless you consider socioeconomics or social psychology to be entertainment. There are plenty of wonderful documentaries, history books of racial conflicts in America, and even history-based movies to fill your void if you are seeking a casual read. I would even direct you to the web site of Southern Law Poverty Center, where you can read powerful (and quick) information about current events and hate crimes.

It is not an easy weekend read. But it is a set of powerful concepts to help readers understand what underlies the complex web of minority-majority relations. The book does have many asides/side-bars of important minority-majority events, (particularly in the U.S.), but it is important to keep in mind that conveying history is not the primary intent of this text, but is rather to distill sociological knowledge from history and the disciplines of sociology, economics, political science, and social psychology. If you approach the textbook from that perspective, you will NOT be disappointed.

STUDENTS. This is not a textbook for a 100s-level introductory course or "survey" course. It is not going to have vocabulary lists or quiz questions at the ends of the chapters. You will find that fewer and fewer of the books for your upper-level courses will have such aids. The length of each chapter has been determined by the amount of pages Professor Farley needs in order to convey the concepts to you. Your professor might try to assign sections of chapters at a time in order to balance your load. But the book, unapologetically I believe, does not attempt to level chapters or to provide rich study aids. My recommendation would be to read each chapter once, attend class, and then re-read the chapter to really master the concepts. This takes longer. But these are powerful concepts, and they are not easy to acquire the first time through.

I am not just an evening Sociology prof. I am someone who has been working in business for over 12 years, in managed care and pharmaceutical research and development, including project management, computer science, and global strategic marketing. I have an MBA. And I am also an evening law student. I can distinguish useless abstract babbling from useful knowledge. The concepts in this book are powerful and useful, and I have seen the principles in this text applied to public policy, to designing educational approaches, and to international business.

If you want to learn and to apply, then this book is for you. If you are looking for "edutainment" -- and there is nothing wrong with that -- then you might want to look for PBS, Discovery Channel, Discovery Civilization, History Channel, or National Geographic programming.

Customer Review: 1 out of 5
Majorly Flawed - Minorly Useful - I was a student taking a class that utilized this book. Though the overall content is very important, I found this text to be dull. My feelings about the text are listed below.

1. While reading this book I get the strong feeling that much of this is written as a point of opinion or thesis that are trying to be supported by loose facts. (one other reviewer called it theoretical so I am not alone) It feels more like a thesis for a PhD than an instructional/educational text. Opinion is freely used and the grammar gets repetitive.... I like how the phrase "....or whatever...." is used in this book.

2. The Text layout is difficult to handle. Let me explain this.
a) The text is hard to read as it is full page text rather than being broken up in columns. (I am dyslexic and makes this layout harder for me to read and comprehend)
b) Chapter summaries are weak; The main points aren't broken out well enough to discern the main points of the chapter. No Vocabulary review at the end of the chapter for easy study review.
c) So many notated ABL sources in this book, they detract from the underlying message. Footnotes would be better for the readers ease.
d) Purely cosmetic....What does this book have against using some color?
e) More graphs and charts would be helpful. Tables there are plenty of these but Graphs and charts would have been more helpful. Chapter 9 about killed me trying to keep all the census statistics straight in my head then trying to apply that to conceptual thinking was a chore.
f) Chapter lengths are incosistant. For students this can get to be a problem when you are counting on a certain amount of work to be dedicated to reading.

3. Many examples are used over and over in this text. This gets to be repetative and a lose in point the author wishes to make.

4. The overall grammer needs work. The length of the book can be dramatically decreased if the author can shorten sentances to say more with less verbage. Many times I have found better ways of stating the same thing with less words. Refer to: The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition (Paperback)by William Strunk Jr., E. B. White, Roger Angell

5. This is already a difficult topic for most people to gain interest in and this text is not a help aid to exciting people about the topic. If this author cares about people learning and understanding his message then this text needs to be recreated to a format that more people will accept and be inclined to read. Even AUGUSTE COMPTE (father of sociology) had his four volume works edited down to two by Harriet Martineau and he liked the edit so much he had it translated back into his native language.
I took another sociology class and to give people a comparison of what I mean about nice layouts and ease of learning.... Sociology: A Brief Introduction (6th Edition) (Paperback)
by Alex B. Thio, I found this book easy to read, to the point, great practical use, and real life application of knowledge containing good study helps.

Customer Review: 3 out of 5
Slow service - I recieved this book 1 month after I ordered it. My test I was supposed to take had already passed before I could read the book. All of my other books were shipped to me in less than 2 weeks. Although, the book was in great shaped when I recieved it.

Customer Review: 2 out of 5
Terrible book - I was forced to buy this book as part of a Minorities in Society course. This book is terrible. The author obviously has an agenda and it bleeds over throughout the text. Although purported to be about various minority groups, it focuses on black males for the most part. Even the chapter on Gender (feminist issues), Sexual Preference, and Disability has a huge section on black males. The author continually blames the government and white males for every problem facing minorities. If you're a white male and want to understand why every social problem is your fault, this is the book for you. Otherwise, find something else.

Customer Review: 4 out of 5
The best text on race relations - This is the most thorough and theoretical of all the texts out there. Students that don't like to read won't like it because it is challenging material and not "dumbed down" like so many texts are (for example Shaeffer's "Racial and Ethnic Groups"). But the professor will find it quite interesting to read and so will the students who actually read it. It contains a good mix of theory, research, and examples. It is not a boring text and even contains some excellent and extensive segments from Richard Wright's "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow."

One of its strengths is the organization: instead of the usual three or four chapters on prejudice and discrimination and then endless chapters one ethnic group after another, all the chapters are about an important aspect of race relations with plenty of examples from selected groups. The emphasis is on Blacks, Mexican Americans and American Indians and their relations with the dominant group. I recommend this book to anyone who is serious about learning how race relations develope and change over time. It's explanation and usage of the conflict and functionalist perspectives is the best I have seen in any text.

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