The Mad Sociologist Blog

  • Islam as Default Adjective

    I read these headlines and their associated articles and felt inclined to respond. Look, it is not my intention to rehash the same old arguments. This project is not an echo chamber. The hypocrisy of requiring the “Islam” modifier in reference to specific acts of violence while ignoring this syntactical requirement for, say, The Lord`s… Read more

  • Chris Kyle: A Useful Sociopath

    And The Militarism That Gives Such Men a Platform I’ve largely stayed out of the ludicrously impassioned debate raging through social media on the Michael Moore/American Sniper debate. Frankly, I have no money on this horse race.  I am a fan of Michael Moore’s documentaries, even if I don’t always agree with his conclusions. Likewise, … Read more

  • A Game of Life and Death

    With clear winners and losers…played every day! If you answered, “the twelve year old boy, of course!” then you are pre-qualified for a position on the Cleveland Police Department. Read more

  • On Oak Trees and High Stakes Testing

    And selling what everyone knows to be a bad idea Some time ago my school district showed us an interesting video and sent representatives around to explain the new Value Added Model (VAM) that they were using for assessing teachers. The goal, of course, was to sell this woefully inadequate system and to convince us… Read more

  • Actual Facebook Conversation That Took a Curious Turn

    We might want to be a bit more concerned for the political future of the US than we are. The following is a conversation that I had on Facebook just yesterday. The gentleman involved is a friend of mine. A good, hardworking guy with a family. This fact makes what he actually says and what… Read more

  • Implicit Bias, the Thomas Theorem and Police Violence

    Implicit Bias, the Thomas Theorem and Police Violence

    Fear and Prejudice in Police Decision Making Two articles that appeared in Vox, taken together, were very revealing with regard to the ongoing debate and protest on police violence. The first had to do with explaining the violent responses of police in the field. The second elaborated on a psychological phenomenon referred to as implicit… Read more

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