Middletown studies
Encyclopedia
The Middletown studies were sociological
case studies
of the City of Muncie
in Indiana
conducted by Robert Staughton Lynd
and Helen Merrell Lynd, husband-and-wife sociologists. The Lynds' findings were detailed in Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, published in 1929, and Middletown in Transition : A Study in Cultural Conflicts, published in 1937. They wrote in their first book:
"Middletown" means the average or typical American small city. There are places actually named Middletown in New Jersey, New York, Ohio and elsewhere, but the Lynds were interested in the ideal American type. They dealt anonymously with the actual city of Muncie and its people.
The Lynds and a group of researchers conducted an in-depth field research
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 in the United States
.
The Lynds used the "approach of the cultural anthropologist" (see field research
and social anthropology
), existing documents, statistics, old newspapers, interviews, and surveys to accomplish this task. The stated goal of the study was to describe this small urban center as a unit which consists of "interwoven trends of behavior" (p. 3). Or put in more detail,
The book is written in an entirely descriptive tone, treating the citizens of Middletown in much the same way as an anthropologist from an industrialized nation might describe a non-industrial culture.
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:
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 city government was run by the "business class," a conservative group of individuals in high-income profession
s. For example, this group threw its support behind Calvin Coolidge
's administration.
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.
Compared to the 19th century, 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 school
s. Also, taboos against things such as dating have been reduced.
Families tend not to spend as much time together as before. Also, new technology such as supermarket
s, refrigeration
, and washing machine
s have contributed to a downswing in traditional skills such as cooking
and food preservation
.
. 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 19th century, when few youth received any formal education.
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.
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
.
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.
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").
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.
. The community as a whole has a strong Protestant
tenancy. A person's denomination is indicative of one's social status: the Methodist
church is considered the most prestigious in these terms.
However, strong religious beliefs (i.e., ideas about heaven
and hell
) are dying out. While the vast majority of citizens profess a belief in 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.
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 mainline 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
.
. Voter turnout
, however, is down (46 percent in 1924), even considering the recent passage of women's suffrage
.
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.
Newspaper
s serve as the main medium of communication in town, both the morning and evening editions. Due to recent innovations such 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.
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.
as an opportunity to see how the social structure of the town changed.
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.
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.
of U.S. presidents.
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 exactly the 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.
The Lynds tried carefully to avoid any ideological biases in the first study, offering it as a neutral set of observations. However, others have drawn different conclusions from the study. To name just a few examples:
who lived in the city.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
case studies
Case study
A case study is an intensive analysis of an individual unit stressing developmental factors in relation to context. The case study is common in social sciences and life sciences. Case studies may be descriptive or explanatory. The latter type is used to explore causation in order to find...
of the City of Muncie
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769...
in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
conducted by Robert Staughton Lynd
Robert Staughton Lynd
Robert Staughton Lynd was an American sociologist born in New Albany, Indiana...
and Helen Merrell Lynd, husband-and-wife sociologists. The Lynds' findings were detailed in Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture, published in 1929, and Middletown in Transition : A Study in Cultural Conflicts, published in 1937. They wrote in their first book:
- "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...AmericanUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
stock and its changing environment" (1929: p. 8).
"Middletown" means the average or typical American small city. There are places actually named Middletown in New Jersey, New York, Ohio and elsewhere, but the Lynds were interested in the ideal American type. They dealt anonymously with the actual city of Muncie and its people.
The Lynds and a group of researchers conducted an in-depth field research
Field research
Field research is the collection of raw data in natural settings. It helps to reveal the habits and habitats of various organisms present in their natural surroundings...
study of a small American urban center in order to discover key cultural norms and better understand social change
Social change
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
. The first study was conducted during the 1920s, beginning in January 1924, while the second was written during the Great Depression in the United States
Great Depression in the United States
The Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. The market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high unemployment, poverty, low profits, deflation, plunging farm incomes, and lost opportunities for economic growth and personal advancement...
.
Overview of Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture [1929]
Middletown: A Study in Modern American Culture was primarily a look at changes in a typical American city between 1890 and 1925, a period of great economic change.The Lynds used the "approach of the cultural anthropologist" (see field research
Field research
Field research is the collection of raw data in natural settings. It helps to reveal the habits and habitats of various organisms present in their natural surroundings...
and social anthropology
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
), existing documents, statistics, old newspapers, interviews, and surveys to accomplish this task. The stated goal of the study was to describe this small urban center as a unit which consists of "interwoven trends of behavior" (p. 3). Or put in more detail,
- "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 from an industrialized nation might describe a non-industrial culture.
Following anthropologist W. H. R. Rivers
W. H. R. Rivers
William Halse Rivers Rivers, FRCP, FRS, was an English anthropologist, neurologist, ethnologist and psychiatrist, best known for his work with shell-shocked soldiers during World War I. Rivers' most famous patient was the poet Siegfried Sassoon...
' 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.
Working
In the 1920s the Lynds found a "division into the working class and business class that constitutes 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 belongs to the Holy RollerHoly RollerHoly Roller is a term in American English used to describe Pentecostal Christian churchgoers. The term is commonly used derisively, as if to describe people literally rolling on the floor or speaking in tongues in an uncontrolled manner....
or PresbyterianPresbyterianismPresbyterianism refers to a number of Christian churches adhering to the Calvinist theological tradition within Protestantism, which are organized according to a characteristic Presbyterian polity. Presbyterian theology typically emphasizes the sovereignty of God, the authority of the Scriptures,...
church; or drives a FordFord Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
or a BuickBuickBuick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
....[pp. 23-4]
The study found that at least 70 percent of the population belonged to the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
. However, labor unions
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
had been driven out of town because the city's elite saw them as anti-capitalist. Because of this, unemployment
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
was seen among residents as an individual, not a social, problem.
The city government was run by the "business class," a conservative group of individuals in high-income profession
Profession
A profession is a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain....
s. For example, this group threw its support behind Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
's administration.
Home and family
86 percent of the residents lived in at least a nuclear familyNuclear family
Nuclear family is a term used to define a family group consisting of a father and mother and their children. This is in contrast to the smaller single-parent family, and to the larger extended family. Nuclear families typically center on a married couple, but not always; the nuclear family may have...
arrangement. Because of new innovations such as mortgages
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
, even working class families were able to own their own homes. Home ownership is considered the mark of a "respectable" family.
Compared to the 19th century, family sizes were smaller, divorce rates were up. However, women still, by and large, worked as housewives
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
. 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 school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s. Also, taboos against things such as dating have been reduced.
Families tend not to spend as much time together as before. Also, new technology such as supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s, refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
, and washing machine
Washing machine
A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...
s have contributed to a downswing in traditional skills such as cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
and food preservation
Food preservation
Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or slow down spoilage and thus allow for longer storage....
.
Youth
Almost a third of all children at the time of the study planned to attend collegeCollege
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
. High school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
has become the hub of adolescent life, both social and otherwise. There has been a rise in vocational
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
studies, strongly supported by the community. This is a major demographic shift from the 19th century, when few youth received any formal education.
While the community claims to value education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, they tend to disdain academic learning. Teachers are tolerated but not welcomed into the civic life and governance of the city.
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
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
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
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
has created another "passive leisure activity", although the most popular films concentrate on adventure and romance, while more serious topics are less popular.
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
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
and clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
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").
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.
Religious activities
Middletown contained 42 churches, representing 28 different denominationsChristian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
. The community as a whole has a strong Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
tenancy. A person's denomination is indicative of one's social status: the Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
church is considered the most prestigious in these terms.
However, strong religious beliefs (i.e., ideas about heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
and hell
Hell in Christian beliefs
Christian views on Hell vary, but in general traditionally agree that hell is a place or a state in which the souls of the unsaved suffer the consequences of sin....
) are dying out. While the vast majority of citizens profess a belief in God, they are increasingly cynical about organized religion. Also, many of the clergy tend to be politically progressive
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
, and as such, are not welcomed into the city's governance.
The more fundamentalist Christian
Fundamentalist Christianity
Christian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...
churches tend to be more political and down-to-earth in their approach to life and in sermons. This is in contrast to the mainline 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
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
and YWCA
YWCA
The YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
.
Government and community
The city's "business class" - and therefore most powerful class - is entirely RepublicanRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. Voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
, however, is down (46 percent in 1924), even considering the recent passage of women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
.
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
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
. These people are considered the responsibility of churches and organizations such as the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
- charity is generally frowned upon.
Newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s serve as the main medium of communication in town, both the morning and evening editions. Due to recent innovations such as the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, the papers are able to carry more news. Also, journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
tends to be more "objective", in contrast with the highly partisan papers of a few decades earlier.
Overall the city is highly, but invisibly, segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. Although the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
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.
Overview of Middletown in Transition [1935]
In 1935, the Lynds returned to Middletown to research the second book, Middletown in Transition : A Study in Cultural Conflicts. They saw the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
as an opportunity to see how the social structure of the town changed.
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
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
brought into town. However, once they felt the programs weren't needed anymore, they withdrew their support.
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
Thorstein Veblen
Thorstein Bunde Veblen, born Torsten Bunde Veblen was an American economist and sociologist, and a leader of the so-called institutional economics movement...
. They criticize the consumerism
Consumerism
Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...
displayed by the citizens. They end on a strongly negative note, fearing that a dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...
such as Huey Long
Huey Long
Huey Pierce Long, Jr. , nicknamed The Kingfish, served as the 40th Governor of Louisiana from 1928–1932 and as a U.S. Senator from 1932 to 1935. A Democrat, he was noted for his radical populist policies. Though a backer of Franklin D...
or Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
could conceivably draw support from such a population.
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 electionElection
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
of U.S. presidents.
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
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
was on the decline, and that the very fabric of American democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
was in danger. However, many modern critics repeat exactly the 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.
The Lynds tried carefully to avoid any ideological biases in the first study, offering it as a neutral set of observations. However, others have drawn different conclusions from the study. To name just a few examples:
- 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 functionalismStructural functionalismStructural functionalism is a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions and institutions...
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 LewisSinclair LewisHarry Sinclair Lewis was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of...
, author of BabbittBabbitt (novel)Babbitt, first published in 1922, is a novel by Sinclair Lewis. Largely a satire of American culture, society, and behavior, it critiques the vacuity of middle-class American life and its pressure on individuals toward conformity....
, cited the Middletown studies as examples of the banality and shallowness of American life.
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 JewsJews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
who lived in the city.
Further reading
- Bourke-White, MargaretMargaret Bourke-WhiteMargaret Bourke-White was an American photographer and documentary photographer. She is best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet Industry, the first female war correspondent and the first female photographer for Henry Luce's Life magazine, where her...
. "Muncie Ind. Is the Great ‘U.S. Middletown." Life 10 May 1937, pp. 15–25. - Caccamo, Rita. Back to Middletown: Three Generations of Sociological Reflections (2002)
- Caplow, Theodore, et al.. All Faithful People: Change and Continuity in Middletown's Religion. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983.
- Caplow, Theodore, et al., Middletown Families: Fifty Years of Change and Continuity (1982)
- Caplow, Theodore. "The Measurement of Social Change in Middletown." Indiana Magazine of History 1979 75(4): 344-357. Issn: 0019-6673
- Condran, John G., et al. Working in Middletown: Getting a Living in Muncie, Indiana. Indiana Committee for the Humanities, 1976.
- Feagin, Joe R., Anthony M. Orum, and Gideon Sjoberg. A Case for the Case Study (1991)
- Fox, Richard Wrightman, "Epitaph for Middletown: Robert S. Lynd and the Analysis of Consumer Culture." In Richard Wrightman Fox and T. Jackson Lears, eds. The Culture of Consumption: Critical Essays in American History 1880-1980 (1983)
- Geelhoed, E. Bruce. Muncie: The Middletown of America. Chicago, IL: Arcadia Publishing, 2000.
- Gillette, Howard, Jr. "Middletown Revisited." American Quarterly (1983) 35(4): 426-433. Issn: 0003-0678 in JSTOR
- Goodall, Hurley and J. Paul Mitchell. A History of Negroes in Muncie. Muncie, Indiana: Ball State University, 1976.
- Hoover, Dwight W. Magic Middletown. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986. Published in association with Historic Muncie, Inc.
- Hoover, Dwight W. Middletown: The Making of a Documentary Film Series. Philadelphia: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1992.
- Hoover, Dwight W. "Middletown Revisited: Social Change in Twentieth Century American Society." Old Northwest 1987 13(1): 47-65. Issn: 0360-5531
- Hoover, Dwight W. Middletown Revisted, Ball State University monograph, 1990
- Jensen, Richard. "The Lynds Revisited," Indiana Magazine of History (Dec 1979) 75: 303-319
- Lynd, Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd. Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1929.
- Lynd, Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd. Middletown in Transition: A Study in Cultural Conflicts. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1937.
- The Middletown Film Series: "The Campaign," "The Big Game," "A Community of Praise," "Family Business," "Second Time Around " Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: WQED/PBS-TV, 1982; "Middletown Revisited, with Ben Wattenberg," Muncie, Indiana: WIPB/PBS-TV, 1982.
- The Middletown Photographs. Exhibit Catalog, Ball State University Art Gallery May 20 - June 24, 1984. Muncie, Indiana: Center for Middletown Studies, 1984..
- Rottenberg, Dan, editor. Middletown Jews: The Tenuous Survival of an American Jewish Community. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.
- Straw, John B. Dick Greene's Neighborhood: Muncie, Indiana. St. Louis: G. Bradley Publishing, 2000.
- Tambo, David, Dwight Hoover, and John D. Hewitt. Middletown: An Annotated Bibliography. Garland Reference Library of Social Science, Volume 446. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1988. http://www.bsu.edu/libraries/virtualpress/archives/middletown_bibliography/index.html
External links
- Ball State University Center for Middletown Studies
- Ball State University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections
- Ball State University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections - Middletown Studies Collection and Digital Archives
- Ball State University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections - Middletown Women's History Collection
- Ball State University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections - Middletown Digital Oral Histories
- Ball State University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections - Middletown Studies Collection Library and Archives in Second Life