Overview

In an era of human genome research, environmental challenges, new reproductive technologies, and more, students can benefit from introductory sociology text that is biologically informed. This innovative text integrates mainstream sociological research in all areas of sociology with a scientifically informed model of an evolved, biological human actor. This text allows students to better understand their emotional, social, and institutional worlds. It also illustrates how biological understanding naturally enhances the sociological approach. This grounding of sociology in a biosocial conception of the individual actor is coupled with a comparative approach, as human biology is universal and often reveals itself as variations on themes across human cultures. Tables, figures, and photos, and the author’s concise and remarkably lively style make this a truly enjoyable book to read and teach.

Full Product Details

9781138049680

Table of Contents

Reviews

Hopcroft's introductory sociology textbook is one of the very few that takes seriously the necessity for developing genuinely scientific explanations of human social behavior and that strives to do so by forging explicit linkage with the basic principles of the evolutionary behavioral sciences. The effort is laudable, and it is in keeping with the longstanding, but as yet not fully realized, promise of a truly scientific sociology. Timothy Crippen, Professor Emeritus, University of Mary Washington A groundbreaking introduction to sociology that anchors traditional sociology in a scientific domain freshly constituted by a sprinkling of evolutionary theory and an informed biology. The highly readable and well-written chapters are underpinned by a captivating narrative that speaks to the reader in the fashion of a one-on-one discussion of a topic. As an introduction text it fulfills a long standing need for an up-to-date integrative image of the sociological field, making it ideal for sociology students in both community colleges and Universities. Alexandra Maryanski, Professor of the Graduate Division in the University of California at Riverside; Emerita Professor of Sociology at University of California at Riverside

Hopcroft's introductory sociology textbook is one of the very few that takes seriously the necessity for developing genuinely scientific explanations of human social behavior and that strives to do so by forging explicit linkage with the basic principles of the evolutionary behavioral sciences. The effort is laudable, and it is in keeping with the longstanding, but as yet not fully realized, promise of a truly scientific sociology. Timothy Crippen, Professor Emeritus, University of Mary Washington Hopcroft's introductory sociology textbook is one of the very few that takes seriously the necessity for developing genuinely scientific explanations of human social behavior and that strives to do so by forging explicit linkage with the basic principles of the evolutionary behavioral sciences. The effort is laudable, and it is in keeping with the longstanding, but as yet not fully realized, promise of a truly scientific sociology. Timothy Crippen, Professor Emeritus, University of Mary Washington A groundbreaking introduction to sociology that anchors traditional sociology in a scientific domain freshly constituted by a sprinkling of evolutionary theory and an informed biology. The highly readable and well-written chapters are underpinned by a captivating narrative that speaks to the reader in the fashion of a one-on-one discussion of a topic. As an introduction text it fulfills a long standing need for an up-to-date integrative image of the sociological field, making it ideal for sociology students in both community colleges and Universities. Alexandra Maryanski, Professor of the Graduate Division in the University of California at Riverside; Emerita Professor of Sociology at University of California at Riverside

Author Information

Rosemary L. Hopcroft is Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She has published widely in the areas of comparative and historical sociology and evolution, biology, and society in journals that include the American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, and Social Forces. She is the author of Evolution and Gender: Why It Matters for Contemporary Life, which received the 2018 Award for Best Book by the Evolution, Biology, & Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available