Ralph Larkin
Encyclopedia
Ralph Wild Larkin is an American sociologist and research consultant. He is the author of Suburban Youth in Cultural Crisis (1979), Beyond Revolution: A New Theory of Social Movements (1986), and Comprehending Columbine (2007). He obtained his bachelor's degree
from the University of California, Santa Barbara
and received a master's degree
in education from California State University at Northridge.
In 1969 he received a Ph.D.
in Sociology of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles
, and he taught sociology
at Rutgers University
in 1973. He met fellow sociologist Daniel A. Foss
while teaching at Rutgers, and they later partnered in researching social movements. They co-authored a book together on social movements, and have jointly published studies in academic journal
s including Theory and Society, Sociological Analysis, and Social Text. Larkin is a Senior Research Associate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice
, City University of New York
, and owns his own consulting firm called Academic Research Consulting Service.
on May 27, 1940, and obtained his bachelor's degree
from the University of California, Santa Barbara
in 1961. After teaching elementary school in California, Larkin obtained a master's degree
in education from California State University at Northridge in 1966, and received his Ph.D.
in Sociology of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles
, in 1969. In 1970, Larkin moved to New York
and worked as a research associate at the Center for Urban Education. He became an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University
in 1973.
when they were both teaching Sociology at Rutgers University. They have frequently partnered in research on the study of social movements. The book Beyond Revolution: A New Theory of Social Movements was co-authored with Foss. Larkin and Foss have also jointly published research in sociology journals
, including a piece on the white middle class youth movement of the 1960s and its relationship to later movements such as the Children of God
, the Divine Light Mission
, Swami Muktananda
and the Revolutionary Youth Movement
in Theory and Society. They later wrote a more focused article dealing with Guru Maharaj Ji and his followers, which was published in Sociological Analysis, and a piece dealing with the vocabulary
utilized in these social movements, in Social Text. Larkin and Foss' research has later been cited by books on both the 1960s subculture, and on movements of social change
such as the Hippie movement
and other forms of counterculture
and subculture
.
Graduate School of Education. After the publication of his work Comprehending Columbine, Larkin was contacted by the press for comment on the Columbine High School massacre
, and discussed a judge's decision to seal information and tapes containing information about the killers. "The judge said the tapes were incendiary. We have plenty of things already that stimulate violence," said Larkin. Prior to writing the book, Larkin had given a seminar at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice's Center on Terrorism, entitled: "From Oklahoma City to Columbine: Paramilitary Influences on Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold." Larkin is a Senior Research Associate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice
, City University of New York
, and owns his own consulting firm called Academic Research Consulting Service.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
and received a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in education from California State University at Northridge.
In 1969 he received a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Sociology of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, and he taught sociology
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...
at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
in 1973. He met fellow sociologist Daniel A. Foss
Daniel Foss
Daniel A. Foss is an American sociologist and database researcher. He is the author of Freak Culture: Life Style and Politics , and Beyond Revolution: A New Theory of Social Movements .-Early life and education:...
while teaching at Rutgers, and they later partnered in researching social movements. They co-authored a book together on social movements, and have jointly published studies in academic journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
s including Theory and Society, Sociological Analysis, and Social Text. Larkin is a Senior Research Associate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a senior college of the City University of New York in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and is the only liberal arts college with a criminal justice and forensic focus in the United States. The college offers programs in Forensic Science and Forensic...
, City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
, and owns his own consulting firm called Academic Research Consulting Service.
Early life and education
Larkin was born in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
on May 27, 1940, and obtained his bachelor's degree
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
in 1961. After teaching elementary school in California, Larkin obtained a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in education from California State University at Northridge in 1966, and received his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Sociology of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, in 1969. In 1970, Larkin moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and worked as a research associate at the Center for Urban Education. He became an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University
Rutgers University
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
in 1973.
Research on social movements
Larkin met fellow sociologist Daniel A. FossDaniel Foss
Daniel A. Foss is an American sociologist and database researcher. He is the author of Freak Culture: Life Style and Politics , and Beyond Revolution: A New Theory of Social Movements .-Early life and education:...
when they were both teaching Sociology at Rutgers University. They have frequently partnered in research on the study of social movements. The book Beyond Revolution: A New Theory of Social Movements was co-authored with Foss. Larkin and Foss have also jointly published research in sociology journals
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
, including a piece on the white middle class youth movement of the 1960s and its relationship to later movements such as the Children of God
Children of God
The Family International , formed as as the Children of God and later named Family of Love and the Family, is a new religious movement, started in 1968 in Huntington Beach, California, United States. It began in the late 1960s, with many of its early converts drawn from the hippie movement...
, the Divine Light Mission
Divine Light Mission
The Divine Light Mission was an organization founded in 1960 by guru Shri Hans Ji Maharaj for his following in northern India. During the 1970s, the DLM gained prominence in the West under the leadership of his fourth and youngest son, Guru Maharaj Ji...
, Swami Muktananda
Muktananda
Swami Muktananda is the monastic name of an Indian Hindu guru and disciple of Bhagavan Nityananda. Swami Muktananda was the founder of Siddha Yoga...
and the Revolutionary Youth Movement
Revolutionary Youth Movement
The Revolutionary Youth Movement was the section of Students for a Democratic Society that opposed the Worker Student Alliance of the Progressive Labor Party...
in Theory and Society. They later wrote a more focused article dealing with Guru Maharaj Ji and his followers, which was published in Sociological Analysis, and a piece dealing with the vocabulary
Vocabulary
A person's vocabulary is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge...
utilized in these social movements, in Social Text. Larkin and Foss' research has later been cited by books on both the 1960s subculture, and on movements of 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...
such as the Hippie movement
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
and other forms of counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
and subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
.
Teaching
Larkin has taught coursework in the Department of Sociology at the Newark College of Arts and Science of Rutgers University, and was also a professor at the Center for the Study of Evaluation, University of California, Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
Graduate School of Education. After the publication of his work Comprehending Columbine, Larkin was contacted by the press for comment on the Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
, and discussed a judge's decision to seal information and tapes containing information about the killers. "The judge said the tapes were incendiary. We have plenty of things already that stimulate violence," said Larkin. Prior to writing the book, Larkin had given a seminar at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice's Center on Terrorism, entitled: "From Oklahoma City to Columbine: Paramilitary Influences on Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold." Larkin is a Senior Research Associate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice is a senior college of the City University of New York in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and is the only liberal arts college with a criminal justice and forensic focus in the United States. The college offers programs in Forensic Science and Forensic...
, City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
, and owns his own consulting firm called Academic Research Consulting Service.
Articles
| location = | date =March 1976 | url = | doi =10.1007/BF00158479 | id = | accessdate = }}External links
- Academic Research Consulting Service, Ralph W. Larkin's consulting company
- Ralph W. Larkin: Comprehending Columbine, official publisher's Web site for Larkin's 2007 book