# Study Guide: Chapter 15 — Population And The Environment > Organized by textbook section. Review the objectives, study topics, key takeaways, and questions for each section. ## 15.1: Sociological Perspectives on Population and the ### Study Topics - Table 15.1 Theory Snapshot - Conflict Theory - Symbolic Interactionism ### Key Terms - **conflict theory** — The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **Functionalism** — The view that social institutions are important for their contributions to social stability. - **migration** — The movement of people into or out of specific regions. - **Symbolic interactionism** — A perspective in sociology that focuses on the meanings people gain from social interaction. ### Key Takeaways - Functionalism recognizes the problems arising from population growth that is too rapid, but disagrees on the extent to which overpopulation is a serious problem. - Conflict theory attributes world hunger to inequalities in the distribution of food rather than to overpopulation. - Symbolic interactionism considers people’s perceptions and activities regarding population (e.g., contraception) and the environment. ### Review Questions 1. Which of the three major perspectives—functionalism, conflict theory, or symbolic interactionism—seems to have the best approach in how it understands population and environmental issues? Explain your answer. ## 15.2: Population ### Study Topics - The Study of Population - Fertility and Birth Rates - Figure 15.1 US General Fertility Rate, 1920–2010 - Mortality and Death Rates - Population Growth and Decline - Figure 15.3 International Annual Population Growth Rates (%), 2005–2010 - Figure 15.4 Total World Population, 1950–2050 - Views of Population Growth - Demographic Transition Theory - Population Decline and Pronatalism - Two Other Problems Related to Population Growth - Immigration Today - Efforts to Limit Immigration - Immigrants and Domestic Violence - Lessons from Other Societies ### Key Terms - **civil war** — War within nations. - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **crude birth rate** — The number of live births for every 1,000 people in a population in a given year. - **crude death rate** — The number of deaths for every 1,000 people in a population in a given year. - **demographic transition theory** — A theory that links population growth to the level of technological development across three stages of social evolution. - **demography** — The study of population growth and changes in population composition. - **Discrimination** — With regard to racial and ethnic inequality, the arbitrary denial of rights, privileges, and opportunities to members of subordinate racial and ethnic groups. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another. - **general fertility rate** — The number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years. - **migration** — The movement of people into or out of specific regions. - **natural growth rate** — The difference between the crude birth rate and the crude death rate. - **pronatalist** — Referring to policies that encourage women to have children. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **total fertility rate** — The number of children an average woman is expected to have in her lifetime, sometimes expressed as the number of children an average 1,000 women are expected to have in their lifetimes. ### Learning Objectives 1. Describe the central concepts of the study of demography. 2. Understand demographic transition theory and how it compares with the views of Thomas Malthus. 3. Explain why some experts feel that world hunger does not result from overpopulation. 4. Provide examples of how US history is marked by anti-immigrant prejudice. ### Key Takeaways - To understand changes in the size and composition of population, demographers use several concepts, including fertility and birth rates, mortality and death rates, and migration. - Although overpopulation remains a serious concern, many experts say the world’s food supply is sufficient providing that it is distributed efficiently and equitably. - Although illegal immigration to the United States has dwindled and immigrants are faring well overall, many Americans are concerned about immigration, and several states have passed very restrictive laws concerning immigration. ### Review Questions 1. How concerned are you about population growth and overpopulation? Explain your answer in a brief essay. 2. Before you began reading this chapter, did you think that food scarcity was the major reason for world hunger today? Why do you think a belief in food scarcity is so common among Americans? 3. Do you think nations with low birth rates should provide incentives for women to have more babies? Why or why not? 4. If immigrants seem to be faring fairly well in the United States, as the text explains, why do you think so many Americans have negative attitudes about immigration and immigrants? Explain your answer. ## 15.3: The Environment ### Study Topics - Environmental Sociology - Human Activity and Decision Making - Environmental Inequality and Environmental Racism - Applying Social Research - Environmental Racism in the Land of Cotton - Environmental Problems - Air Pollution - Children and Our Future - Global Climate Change - Water Pollution and Inadequate Sanitation - Nuclear Power - Ground Pollution and Hazardous Waste - People Making a Difference - In Praise of Two Heroic Women ### Key Terms - **civil war** — War within nations. - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **environmental justice** — Scholarship on environmental inequality and racism, and public policy efforts and activism aimed at reducing these forms of inequality and racism. - **environmental sociology** — The study of the interaction between human behavior and the natural and physical environment. - **health care** — The provision of medical services to prevent, diagnose, and treat health problems. - **life expectancy** — The average age to which people can be expected to live. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **social problem** — Any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed. ### Learning Objectives 1. List two reasons that make the environment an appropriate topic for sociologists to study. 2. Describe two of the environmental problems facing the world today. 3. Describe what is meant by the assertion that environmental problems are human problems. 4. Explain the concepts of environmental inequality and environmental racism. 5. Understand the various environmental problems that exist today. ### Key Takeaways - Environmental problems are largely the result of human behavior and human decision making. Changes in human activity and decision making are thus necessary to improve the environment. - Environmental inequality and environmental racism are significant issues. Within the United States and around the world, environmental problems are more often found where poor people and people of color reside. - Air pollution, global climate change, water pollution and inadequate sanitation, and hazardous waste are major environmental problems that threaten the planet. ### Review Questions 1. Pretend you are on a debate team and that your team is asked to argue in favor of the following resolution: Be it resolved, that air and water pollution is primarily the result of reckless human behavior rather than natural environmental changes. Using evidence from the text, write a two-minute speech (about three hundred words) in favor of the resolution. 2. How much of the environmental racism that exists do you think is intentional? Explain your answer. 3. List one thing you did yesterday that was good for the environment and one thing that was bad for the environment. ## 15.4: Addressing Population Problems and Improving the ### Study Topics - The Environment ### Key Terms - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **environmental sociology** — The study of the interaction between human behavior and the natural and physical environment. ### Key Takeaways - Efforts to address population issues should focus on the various inequalities that lead to both overpopulation and food scarcity. - Efforts to improve the environment should keep in mind the greater environmental harm that the poor and people of color suffer. ### Review Questions 1. If you had a million dollars to spend to address one population problem, would you use it to provide contraception, or would you use it to improve the distribution of food? Explain your answer. 2. Which one of the environmental problems discussed in the text concerns you the most? Why? ## 15.5: End-of-Chapter Material ### Key Terms - **conflict theory** — The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure. - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **demographic transition theory** — A theory that links population growth to the level of technological development across three stages of social evolution. - **demography** — The study of population growth and changes in population composition. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **environmental sociology** — The study of the interaction between human behavior and the natural and physical environment. - **Functionalism** — The view that social institutions are important for their contributions to social stability. - **migration** — The movement of people into or out of specific regions. - **Symbolic interactionism** — A perspective in sociology that focuses on the meanings people gain from social interaction. ### Chapter Summary 1. Functionalism stresses the value of normal changes in population growth and the environment, but recognizes that certain population and environmental problems are dysfunctional. Conflict theory stresses that world hunger stems from lack of access to food, not from overpopulation, and it blames multinational corporations for environmental problems. Symbolic interactionism emphasizes people’s activities and perceptions in regard to population and the environment. 2. Demography is the study of population. It encompasses three central concepts—fertility, mortality, and migration—which together determine population growth. 3. The world’s population is growing by about 80 million people annually. Population growth is greatest in the low-income nations of Africa and other regions, while in several industrial nations it is declining. 4. Thomas Malthus predicted that the earth’s population would greatly exceed the world’s food supply. Although his prediction did not come true, hunger remains a serious problem around the world. Food supply is generally ample thanks to improved technology, but the distribution of food is inadequate in low-income nations. 5. Demographic transition theory helps explain why population growth did not continue to rise as much as Malthus predicted. As societies become more technologically advanced, first death rates and then birth rates decline, leading eventually to little population growth. 6. US history is filled with prejudice against immigrants. Immigrants today contribute in many ways to the American economy and have relatively low crime rates. Despite these facts, many people are opposed to immigration, and many states have passed laws to restrict benefits and movement for immigrants. 7. Environmental sociology is the sociological study of the environment. One major emphasis of environmental sociology is that environmental problems are largely the result of human activity and human decision making. A second major emphasis is that environmental problems disproportionately affect low-income people and people of color. These effects are called environmental inequality and environmental racism, respectively. 8. Environmental problems include climate change, air and water pollution, and hazardous waste. Children are particularly vulnerable to the health effects of environmental problems. ### Application You are in your second year in the accounting division of a large company that operates a factory on the main river in a small town. One day you notice some financial documents. These documents suggest to you that your company has been dumping a toxic solvent into the river rather than having it collected and taken to a safe site. Having had an environmental sociology course in college, you are very concerned about this possible problem, but you are not certain that the dumping is in fact occurring, and you also do not want to lose your job. Do you take any action related to your new suspicion of the possible dumping, or do you remain silent? Explain your answer. ### Action Ideas To help deal with the population and environmental problems discussed in this chapter, you may wish to do any of the following: 1. Contribute money to a national environmental organization or join a local environmental group in your activity. 2. Start an organization on your campus to deal with world hunger. 3. Organize speaker series on your campus to various environmental topics.