Leadership elites are found in every community, but the influence of these elite members is usually overlooked. As Sampson states in this chapter, we often think of the top roles such as President of the United States when thinking about elite leaders, but in reality there are countless other elite leaders networked together just below the role of President. I am in agreement with Sampson as to the strong influence elite leaders have on the communities around them.
Earlier on in Great American City, Sampson discusses the positive correlation that exists between the presence of organizations and collective efficacy within a community. Well, at the head of these various organizations sits one or perhaps several leadership elites. Taking this into consideration, it is not surprising to see a very similar correlation between elite leadership ties and collective efficacy within communities (see figure 14.4).
Not everyone is destined to become an "elite" leader, which is why such leaders are considered to be elite. Leadership elites are few in number when compared to the population of the larger community, yet they often contribute more to the group than the average person. I feel like elite leadership ties within and between communities can be compared to the network of neurons within the brain that are responsible for proper function. Leadership elites all play different roles within a community, but collectively they create a synergy that either helps or harms the communities around them. Borrowing from the social journalist Malcolm Gladwell's book, The Tipping Point, I think of leadership elites as what Gladwell would call the "connectors" of society. These are the people that connect communities and contribute to the flow of communication between them. As Sampson states in this chapter, "where leadership connections are concentrated or less fragmented, we find better health and lower violence across the city. " I feel like this is largely due to the increased flow of communication between the sociological institutions within the community. Like a well oiled machine, when all these institutions are communicating, larger goals can be accomplished. I assume that the well-being of the citizens within the community would be one of major concerns for these various institutions.
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Research for my final presentation is going fairly well. I feel like I've finally honed in on a specific topic to research and present for the class. Previous to college, I was involved with an anti-tobacco advocacy group, and the subject has always been of interest to me. By taking the topic of this class and blending it with my emphases in biology and sociology, I feel like I could come up with a solid presentation about smoking. I'm interested in how the presence of collective efficacy and social altruism impact tobacco smoking within the community. Sampson has given us all this data stating that better health is linked to collective efficacy, etc. Taking what we already know, I want to be more specific and find out how these factors influence tobacco cessation efforts within a community.
Garret,
ReplyDeleteI like where you are going with your topic. Although tobacco use in America is down substantially, I believe it is extremely high in many Asian countries. It could be interesting to do some compare and contrast with America's communities and smoking versus some Asian or European communities. You may also want to consider looking into Marijuana use, since 1 in 5 12th graders use on average in the US. Maybe there are some interesting ties you could find between communities, drug abuse, and smoking. Good luck.
I'd like to start off by saying that when I think of "elites" in any form of leadership or otherwise the last person that would come to mind is the current President of the United States. Haha. I like how you make the comparison between elite leaders and everyday citizens, stating that they are something special and valuable. It's definitely true that there have been many leadership elites past and present that have enhanced the lives of their fellow human beings, rather than the average person who seems to simply go about their daily activities.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a solid topic. Smoking is big in many european countries, I think. And it would definitely be interesting to find out how collective efficacy and smoking is related in other countries as well. I know that in other countries kids start smoking at a young age and as you may already know smoking at a young age can lead to addiction which can lead to lung cancer. Among other things I think lung cancer is the biggest disease people die from that could totally have been prevented. Why I also believe you have a good topic is perhaps the new perspective it could bring into the biological and sociological sense of things. Good luck on your research!
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