The Middletown studies refer to a classic sociological case study of a city in Indiana, as contained in two books by Robert Staughton Lynd and Helen Merrell Lynd: Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 38th 94,321 km² 225 km 435 km 1. ... Robert Staughton Lynd (1892 - 1970) was a significant American sociologist. ... Helen Merrel Lynd (March 17, 1896 - January 30, 1982) was a U.S. sociologist and social philosopoher. ...

• Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, published in 1929.
• Middletown in Transition : A Study in Cultural Conflicts, published in 1937.

They wrote this about the first book: 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ...

"The city will be called Middletown. A community as small as thirty-odd thousand...[in which] the field staff was enabled to concentrate on cultural change...the interplay of a relatively constant...American stock and its changing environment" (1929: p. 8).

In these studies, the Lynds and a group of researchers conduct an in-depth field study of a small American urban center in order to discover key cultural norms and better understand social change. The first study was conducted during the 1920s, beginning in January, 1924, while the second was written during the Great Depression. The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ... It has been suggested that Roaring Twenties be merged into this article or section. ... Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, a mother of seven children, age twenty-nine, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. ...

Middletown

Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture was primarily a look at changes in a small Midwest city between 1890 and 1925, the year the study was completed. 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Although the book does not name the city (population: 38,000) in question, it was later revealed to be Muncie, Indiana. Muncie is a city in Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University. ...

The Lynds and their assistants used the "approach of the cultural anthropologist" (see field research and social anthropology), existing documents, statistics, interviews, and surveys to accomplish this task. The stated goal of the study was describe this small urban center as a unit which consists of "interwoven trends of behavior" (p. 3). Or put in more detail, Cultural anthropology, also called social anthropology or socio-cultural anthropology, is one of four commonly recognized fields of anthropology, the holistic study of humanity. ... A graph of a bell curve in a normal distribution showing statistics used in educational assessment, comparing various grading methods. ...

"to present a dynamic, functional study of the contemporary life of this specific American community in the light of trends of changing behaviour observable in it during the last thirty-five years" (p. 6).

The book is written in an entirely descriptive tone, treating the citizens of Middletown in much the same way as an anthropologist might describe a tribal culture. See Anthropology. ...

Overview of Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture [1929]

Following anthropologist W. H. R. Rivers' classic Social Organization," the Lynds write that the study proceeded "under the assumption that all the things people do in this American city may be viewed as falling under one or another of the following six main-trunk activities:

• Getting a living.
• Making a home.
• Training the young.
• Using leisure in various forms of play, art, and so on.
• Engaging in religious practices.
• Engaging in community activities."

Overall, Middletown was described (like many other American cities of the period) as a farming community that, due to technological changes, became a factory town. The study aimed to examine the consequences of this change. Farming, ploughing rice paddy, in Indonesia Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other desired products by cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). ... A factory (previously manufactory) or manufacturing plant is a large industrial building where workers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. ...

Working

In the 1920s the Lynds found a "division into the working class and business class that constitues the outstanding cleavage in Middletown." They state:

The mere fact of being born upon one or the other side of the watershed roughly formed by these two groups is the most significant single cultural factor tending to influence what one does all day long throughout one's life; whom one marries; when one gets up in the morning; whether one belogs to the Holy Roller or Presbyterian church; or drives a Ford or a Buick....[pp. 23-4]

The study found that at least 70 percent of the population belonged to the working class. However, labor unions had been driven out of town because the city's elite saw them as anti-capitalist. Because of this, unemployment was seen among residents as an individual, not a social, problem. The term working class is used to denote a social class. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... In economics, a person who is able and willing to work at prevailing wage rate yet is unable to find a paying job is considered unemployed. ...

The city government was run by the "business class," a conservative group of individuals in high-income professions. For example, this group threw its support behind Calvin Coolidge's administration. A profession is a specialized work function within society, generally performed by a professional. ... John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. ...

Home and Family

86 percent of the residents lived in at least a nuclear family arrangement. Because of new innovations such as mortgages, even working class families were able to own their own homes. Home ownership is considered the mark of a "respectable" family. A nuclear family (sometimes known in the British sociological term, cornflake family) is a household consisting of two married, heterosexual parents and their legal children (siblings), as distinct from the extended family. ... Introduction A mortgage is a device used to create a lien on real estate by contract. ...

Compared to the 1800s, family sizes were smaller, divorce rates were up. However, women still, by and large, worked as housewives. Having children is considered a "moral obligation" of all couples. However, at the age of six, the socialization of these children are taken over by secondary institutions such as schools. Also, taboos against things such as dating have been reduced. A stereotypical housewife A homemaker is a person whose prime occupation is to care for their family and home. ... school, see School (disambiguation). ... The term date can refer to: A day according to a calendar; see calendar date. ...

Families tend not to spend as much time together as before. Also, new technology such as supermarkets, refrigeration, and washing machines have contributed to a downswing in traditional skills such as cooking and food preservation. Supermarket produce section A supermarket is a store that sells a wide variety of goods including food and alcohol, medicine, clothes, and other household products that are consumed regularly. ... Refrigeration (from the Latin frigus, frost) is generally the cooling of a body by the transfer of a portion of its heat away from it. ... Front-loading washing machine. ... Cooking is the act of preparing food for consumption. ... Various preserved foods Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly slow down spoilage to prevent foodborne illness while maintaining nutritional value, texture and flavor. ...

Youth

Almost a third of all children at the time of the study planned to attend college. High school has become the hub of adolescent life, both social and otherwise. There has been a rise in vocational studies, strongly supported by the community. This is a major demographic shift from the 1800s, when few youth received any formal education. The term college (Latin collegium) is most often used today to denote an educational institution. ... High school - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Vocational education prepares learners for certain careers or professions, which are traditionally non-academic and directly related to a trade, occupation or vocation in which the learner participates. ...

While the community claims to value education, they tend to disdain academic learning. Teachers are tolerated but not welcomed into the civic life and governance of the city. Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ...

Leisure Time

Although new technology has created more leisure time for all people, most of this new time is passed in "passive" (or nonconstructive) recreation.

The introduction of the radio and automobile are considered the largest changes. Listening to radio shows and taking drives are now the most popular leisure activities. Many working-class families formerly never strayed more than a few miles from town; with the automobile, they are able to take vacations across the United States. An automobile is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor. ...

With the rise of these activities, interest in such institutions as book discussion groups (and reading in general), public lectures, and the fine arts is in sharp decline. The introduction of film has created another "passive leisure activity", although the most popular films concentrate on adventure and romance, while more serious topics are less popular. Fine art is a term used to refer to fields traditionally considered to be artistic. ... This article is about motion pictures. ...

About two-thirds of Middletown families now own cars. Owning a car, and the prestige it brings, is considered so important that some working-class families are willing to bypass necessities such as food and clothing to keep up with payments. A person's car indicates their social status, and the most "popular" teens own cars, much to the chagrin of local community leaders (one local preacher referred to the automobile as a "house of prostitution on wheels"). Men and women wearing suits, an example of one of the many modern forms of clothing (from the 1937 Chicago Woolen Mills catalog) Clothing is defined, in its broadest sense, as coverings for the torso and limbs as well as coverings for the hands (gloves), feet (socks, shoes, sandals, boots...

Overall, due to this new technology, community and family ties are breaking down. Friendship between neighbors and church attendance are down. However, more structured community organizations, such as the Rotary Club, are growing. Logo of Rotary International Rotary International is an organisation whose members comprise Rotary Clubs (service clubs) located all over the world. ...

Religious Activities

Middletown contained 42 churches, representing 28 different denominations. The community as a whole has a strong Protestant Christian flavor. A person's denomination is indiciate of one's social status: the Methodist church is considered the most prestigious in these terms. This article is about the Christian buildings of worship. ... A denomination, in the Christian sense of the word, is an identifiable religious body, organization under a common name, structure, and/or doctrine. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... A Christian is a follower of Jesus Christ. ... The Methodist movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity. ...

However, strong religious beliefs (i.e., ideas about heaven and hell) are dying out. While the vast majority of citizens profess a belief in a god, they are increasingly cynical about organized religion. Also, many of the clergy tend to be politically progressive, and as such, are not welcomed into the city's governance. Michelangelos interpretation of Heaven Heaven is an afterlife concept found in many religions or spiritual philosophies. ... Medieval illustration of Hell in the Hortus deliciarum manuscript of Herrad of Landsberg (about 1180) Hell, according to many religious beliefs, is a place and/or a state of painful suffering. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ... Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

The more fundamentalist Christian churches tend to be more political and down-to-earth in their approach to life and in sermons. This is in contrast to the mainstream Protestant denominations, which tend to be more aloof and other-worldly. Overall, the city is becoming more secular. Youth are less inclined to attend church, but more likely to be involved with the YMCA and YWCA. Fundamentalism is a movement to maintain strict adherence to founding principles. ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... YMCAs in the United States and Canada use this logo. ... Neysa Moran McMein (1888-1949) Y.W.C.A. In Service for the Girls of the World, Poster, 1919 The YWCA (originally Young Womens Christian Association) is a world-wide organisation, founded in the UK in 1855. ...

Government and Community

The city's "business class" - and therefore most powerful class - is entirely Republican. Voting turnout, however, is down (46 percent in 1924), even considering the recent passage of women's suffrage. The Republican Party was established in 1854 by a coalition of former Whigs, Northern Democrats, and Free-Soilers who opposed the expansion of slavery and held a Hamiltonian vision for modernizing the United States. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Suffrage parade, New York City, 1912 The movement for womens suffrage, led by suffragists (peaceful protestors) and suffragettes (violent protestors), was a social, economic and political reform movement aimed at extending the suffrage (the right to vote) to women, advocating equal suffrage (abolition of graded votes) rather than universal...

The main reason for this appears to be increased cynicism towards politics, and politicians in general (politicians are considered by many to be no better than crooks). Moreover, the more skilled legal minds in town tend to work in the private sector, not the public sector.

Despite the good economic environment, there is always a small group of homeless. These people are considered the responsibility of churches and organizations such as the Salvation Army - charity is generally frowned upon. A homeless man pushes a cart down the street. ... The Salvation Army is a Protestant evangelical Christian denomination and, more famously, a charity and social services organization, with international headquarters at 101 Queen Victoria Street, London. ...

Newspapers serve as the main medium of communication in town, both the morning and evening editions. Due to recent innovations as the Associated Press, the papers are able to carry more news. Also, journalism tends to be more "objective", in contrast with the highly partisan papers of a few decades earlier. Associated Press logo This article concerns the news service. ... Journalism is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying, and presenting information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people. ...

Overall the city is highly, but invisibly, segregated. Although the Ku Klux Klan was recently kicked out of town, whites and blacks still live separately. However, the largest divide consists of social class lines. Businessmen, in particular, are required to be highly conformist in their political and social views. The Rex Theatre for Colored People, Leland, Mississippi, June 1937 Racial segregation legally exists where governments have passed laws either allowing or requiring discrimination on the basis of race but it can also exist informally as it does today in most parts of the United States. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ...

Middletown in Transition

In 1935, the Lynds returned to Middletown to research the second book, Middletown in Transition : A Study in Cultural Conflicts. They saw the Great Depression as an opportunity to see how the social structure of the town changed. 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California, centering on Florence Owens Thompson, a mother of seven children, age twenty-nine, in Nipomo, California, March 1936. ...

While the researchers found that there were some social changes, residents tended to go back to the way they were once economic hardship had ended. For example, the "business class", traditionally Republican, grudgingly supported the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and accepted the money the New Deal brought into town. However, once they felt the programs weren't needed anymore, they withdrew their support. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: New Deal The New Deal is the name given to the series of programs implemented between 1933-37 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the goal of relief, recovery and reform of the United States economy during the Great Depression. ...

The second study only used one-tenth of the researchers than the first, and as a result, it is not considered as in-depth as the first one.

Also, the second study is not as neutral as the first. The authors openly attack the "business class" and cite theorists such as Thorstein Veblen. They criticize the consumerism displayed by the citizens. They end on a strongly negative note, fearing that a dictator such as Huey Long or Adolf Hitler could conceivably draw support from such a population. Norwegian-American economist and sociologist Thorstein Veblen Thorstein Bunde Veblen (July 30, 1857 – August 3, 1929) was a Norwegian-American economist and sociologist. ... Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Dictatorship. ... Huey Long Huey Pierce Long (August 30, 1893 – September 10, 1935) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana. ... (help· info) (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer (Leader) of Germany from 1934 until his death. ...

Implications

The Middletown study is often quoted as an example of the adage, "nothing really changes". Despite being conducted in 1925, the description of American culture and attitudes has remained largely unchanged. For example, even today, many news agencies, when trying to figure out what the "average American" believes, visit Muncie, Indiana. Pollsters do as well - the city has, for the most part, successfully predicted the election of U.S. presidents. An election is a decision making process whereby people vote for preferred political candidates or parties to act as representatives in government. ...

This view was only furthered by the results of the second study - if the Great Depression was unable to cause major changes in the town's social structure, the implication is that nothing will.

While a growing number of sociologists and social critics (i.e., Robert D. Putnam) complain of less community involvement, their detractors point directly to the Middletown study. The argument is this: in 1925, observers were worried that new inventions such as the radio were destroying community ties, that morality was on the decline, and that the very fabric of American democracy was in danger. However, many modern critics repeat the exact same concerns as those raised by the Middletown studies, although these concerns have never come true. Supporters of the studies thus argue that every generation simply "reinvents" new problems without realizing that their ancestors had the same unfounded worries. This article provides a list of noted sociologists and major contributors to sociology (even if they did not primarily work as sociologists): Contents: Top - A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z... Robert David Putnam (born January 9, 1941 in Rochester, New York) is a political scientist and professor at Harvard University, well-known for his writings on civic engagement, civil society, and social capital, a concept of which he is probably the leading exponent. ... Morality, in the strictest sense of the word, deals with that which is regarded as right or wrong. ...

The Lynds were careful not to include any ideological biases to creep into the first study, presenting it as a neutral set of observations. However, more biased individuals have drawn from the study. To name just a few examples: An ideology is a collection of ideas. ...

• Marxists point to the "business class" and its ideology as the reason why workers and labor unions have never gained power.
• Conservatives (including sociologists who followed the structural functionalism school) saw the study as a confirmation that a lack of change is good for society.
• Critics of American culture, such as H.L. Mencken and Sinclair Lewis, author of Babbitt, cited the Middletown studies as examples of the banality and shallowness of American life.

Marxism is the political practice and social theory based on the works of Karl Marx, a 19th century philosopher, economist, journalist, and revolutionary, along with Friedrich Engels. ... The article is about functionalism in sociology; for other uses, see functionalism. ... H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken (September 12, 1880 - January 29, 1956) was a twentieth century journalist and social critic, a cynic and a freethinker, known as the Sage of Baltimore and the American Nietzsche. He is often regarded as one of the most influential American writers of the early 20th... Sinclair Lewis Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist and playwright. ... Babbitt is a classic novel by the American novelist and playwright Sinclair Lewis, first published in 1922. ...

Criticism

The Lynds did not study the African-American population of Middletown. They justified this because this group only composed 5 percent of the total population. However, modern critics argue that this was a racial oversight conditioned by the era in which the study took place. A similar argument applies to the fact that they didn't study Jews who lived in the city. An African American (also Afro-American or Black American, or black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...

Although the Lynds attempted to avoid ideology, theory, or political statements, the focus of their initial study can be construed as an endorsement (however faint) of Progressive Era politics. Also, the study is sometimes accused of being elitist and old-fashioned, as it seems to bemoan the rise of "popular culture" such as films and the fall of farm culture. An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... In the United States of America, the Progressive Era was a period of reform that began in Americas urban regions from, approximately the 1890s and lasted through the 1920s, although some experts say it lasted from 1900 to 1920. ...

The second study, in contrast to the first, is extremely political in tone and openly critical of American culture in general. Also, the Lynds made predictions (i.e., on the possibility of a future American dictatorship) that never came to pass. Dictatorship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Furthermore, the second study is accused of "begging the question." Despite its title, there really was no real "conflict" within Middletown during the Great Depression. However, in reading the language of the authors, it becomes increasingly clear that they believed that there should have been class conflict. This is expressed in the frustration employed by the authors - they apparently hoped and expected that such a conflict would break out, and began the study with this preconception. However, this preconception was incorrect. In logic, begging the question is the term for a type of fallacy occurring in deductive reasoning in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in one of the premises. ... Class conflict is both the friction that accompanies social relationships between members or groups of different social classes and the underlying tensions or antagonisms which exist in society. ...

Above all, the Lynds were criticized for using a small town to describe all of America. By doing this, for instance, they ignored the influence of larger cities, which grew in population throughout their era.

On-Line Study from Scholarly Journal

Jensen, Richard. "The Lynds Revisited," Indiana Magazine of History (Dec 1979) 75: 303-319, online at http://members.aol.com/dann01/lynds.html

See also

• Magic Town
• moral panic
• social capital