Got this 1987 edition thanks to the interlibrary system

Image from Pinterest

'Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior while sociology looks how society is structured. 

In short, psychology focuses on the person - who are they, how they behave and how they can be helped through an issue. On the other hand, sociology focuses on society - what it is made up of, what are its issues - present and historical, and what public structures can be used to help solve those issues. You can get more details about psychology through APA (which I talked about here). ASA (read more about it here) has additional information about sociology (there are of course many other bodies across the globe and in different regions and countries)'

My copies of book 1 and 2 - Deaths of Despair and Already Toast

Already Toast -  love the toast on the cover

Kate Washington uses her experience as a wife and mother of two young children whose husband was diagnosed with cancer to talk about the unpaid, emotional, and gendered labor of caregiving. She shares how she ‘suddenly’ moved from wife and life partner to caregiver; managing her husband’s healthcare – without any training - while juggling their children, the household, and doing kinwork (giving regular updates to the rest of the family).

The school library has an e-version of the book

Donna Freitas interviews college students from a couple of universities and colleges, ranging from religiously affiliated to those that are not, about their social media use. From the book, and class discussions, we learnt that most young people equate their worth to the number of likes they have on social media. We also saw that social media is mostly gendered - women/girls participate more on social media while men/boys are more into video games. 

4. The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains us and How to Build Better Lives by Jonathan Malesic

Normal student life - juggling lunch and reading

Jonathan Malesic was a university professor who left his job because of burnout. In the book he shares part of his journey as he explores what causes burnout and what work really means to us today - it is not just a source of income, it is our source of identity, purpose, social status. He also mentions that most people burn out due to exhaustion, cynicism, and sense of ineffectiveness. When looking at the nature of work from a historical lens, he mentions that there was a time, and still in some spaces today, where burnout seems fashionable (hello hustle culture)

Love that last line in the book

Solutions given at the end of the book, plus from our class discussions, include the need for a cultural shift about work and dignity/purpose, the need for flexible working conditions including remote work, flexible hours, four-day week, mental health days, universal basic income and automation/machinery - I love how he ends the book ‘let the machines burn out’

 

5. Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow Cox  

...in the library before I knew how heavy this book was going to be

John Woodrow Cox uses the stories of two children, Tyshaun from an inner city in D.C, whose dad was shot and killed, and Ava from South Carolina who lost a classmate through a school shooting. From their stories, we see the similarities of what they, and those left behind/survivors, go through and also see the differences in who receives what type of support and who doesn’t. 

...took this before we started our in class discussions

In class we discussed the need to move the conversations from gun violence and gun control to gun trauma and focus on the survivors and those left behind. We also talked about how underestimated gun violence is, as neighborhood violence and suicides rarely make the count. From the book we also see how social class affects which incidents are reported and which groups get support – and the type of support they get.

...just before we watched Newton, the film

We also watched a film on Newton which shows how individuals and the community tried to cope and move on after the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Connecticut. 

6. And the Band Plays On: Politics, People and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts 

...just before our in class discussions

This 1987 book by San Francisco Chronicle’s journalist, Randy Shilts, gives a journal like account of the discovery and spread of the HIV/AIDs pandemic, putting into account global events/developments from the Congo, France and other Europeans countries as well as U.S, particularly in the gay communities in New York and the Bay Area. 

...as usual trying to eat as I read...and listen to lofi

We get to see how the U.S government, the media and the medical/scientific community was not keen to do much especially since most people thought that it was a ‘gay disease’ and therefore not worth studying or funding. In class, we did a comparison table between Long COVID and the HIV/AIDs pandemic and saw similarities in the fact that the world is moving on, those with the illness are basically ignored, the impact the illnesses have on family relationships and the loss of work.

This front flap gives a proper summary of the book

Summary continues on the back flap + Author's Profile

I enjoyed learning about mental health from a sociological lens as we looked at various public and historical issues. As mentioned at the beginning of the post, thinking sociologically calls for us to move away from just looking at the individual but consider the greater society that they are a part of. It calls for research/empirical data to help clarify if the issue is private/individual or a public one. It also involves looking at historical and contextual information - as well as existing public structures and gaps in the system.

I look forward to the Research Methods class through which I will learn how to do my own research. I am also taking another sociology class this semester - Feminist Theories - which I am excited about, especially after the amazing sessions from the APA 2023 Convention through which I learnt that psychology can be studied and practiced through many other lenses.

To everyone starting a new school year or semester, may your classes not just move closer to a graduation date, but continue to build you as a person and inform you as a contributor of this wonderful world we are all part of.

Update: Read my World Suicide Prevention Day opinion piece (Op-Ed) on gun suicide which accounts for more than 55% of the suicides in the U.S. - the piece borrows a lot from these books and lessons from this class.

 

Until the next post,

Sending love and light,

Sitawa