Richard Machalek
Biographic Data
| ID | 3685752 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Richard Machalek |
| GIVEN NAMES | Richard |
| FAMILY NAME | Machalek |
| SIGNATURE | MACHALEK R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Wyoming |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 93 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1976 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Divergence and Possible Consilience Between Evolutionary Biology and Sociology
During its emergence as a new academic discipline in the late 19th century, sociology was influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. By the mid-20th century, however, biological thinking in general and evolutionary theory in particular had waned in influence in American sociology. This began to change during the last quarter of the 20th century—a development due in large part to the work of Edward O. Wilson, a prominent biol…
The New Evolutionary Sociology: Recent and Revitalized Theoretical and Methodological Approaches
For decades, evolutionary analysis was overlooked or altogether ignored by sociologists. Fears and biases persisted nearly a century after Auguste Comte gave the discipline its name, as did concerns that its effect would only reduce sociology to another discipline – whether biology, psychology, or economics. Worse, apprehension that the application of evolutionary theory would encourage heightened perceptions of racism, sexism, ethnocentrism and …
Understanding Religious Conversion
Religious conversion provides converts with an opportunity to embrace a community of faith and a philosophy that nurture and guide, that offer a focus for loyalty and a framework for action. Whether the conversion is from one religious tradition to another, from one denomination to another, from no involvement to participation in a religious community, or is an intensification of commitment within one's faith, the process can be complex but compe…
Social Evolution
Sociobiology and Sociology: A New Synthesis
Handbook on Evolution and Society: Toward an Evolutionary Social Science
Biosociological Theories
Biosociological theories integrate biology into sociological explanations of human social behavior. They do so by incorporating theoretical ideas and empirical discoveries from various branches of biology: evolutionary biology (especially sociobiology and behavioral ecology), ecology, ethology, neurobiology, endocrinology, and population genetics. In sociology, most biosociological theories are emerging in a new specialty area, known as evolution…
Evolutionary Theory Seems So Easy”: Reply to Lucal and Hanson
Evolution, Biology, and Society: A Conversation for the 21st-Century Sociology Classroom
Recently, a growing contingent of “evolutionary sociologists” has begun to integrate theoretical ideas and empirical findings derived from evolutionary biology, especially sociobiology, into a variety of sociological inquiries. Without capitulating to a naive version of either biological reductionism or genetic determinism, these researchers and theorists have begun to synthesize sociological thought with research produced in various branches of …
The Origins of Sociable Life: Evolution After Science Studies
Biosociological Theories
Biosociological theories integrate biology into sociological explanations of human social behavior. They do so by incorporating theoretical ideas and empirical discoveries from various branches of biology including evolutionary biology (especially sociobiology and behavioral ecology ), ecology, ethology, neurobiology, endocrinology, and population genetics. In sociology, most biosociological theories are emerging in a new specialty area known as …
Suspending Routine Duty: The Sociological Significance of Military Holidays and Ceremonies
Recently, the sociologist Amitai Etzioni developed a theory of the significance of holidays as 'seedbeds of virtue' and agents of socialization. With minor modifications, Etzioni's theory can shed light on the sociological significance of holiday celebrations and ceremonies in military organizations. This article focuses on two key aspects of military holidays that distinguish them from their civilian counterparts: (1) the centrality of the norma…
Evolutionary Biology and Human Nature: The Archaeology of Epigenetic Rules
More than a quarter century has passed since E. O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Research Professor and Honorary Curator in Entomology of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, Pu
Sociology and the Second Darwinian Revolution: A Metatheoretical Analysis
Sociologists tend to eschew biological explanations of human social behavior. Accordingly, when evolutionary biologists began to apply neo-Darwinian theory to the study of human social behavior, the reactions of sociologists typically ranged from indifference to overt hostility. Since the mid-1960s, however, neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has stimulated a 'second Darwinian revolution' in traditional social scientific conceptions of human natur…
Darwinizing Crime Control Policies: Additional Recommendations
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
The Normalcy of Crime: From Durkheim to Evolutionary Ecology
A troublesome but generally ignored paradox characterizes contemporary sociological explanations of crime causation. Although many sociologists interpret crime as if it were pathological or aberrant and thus "abnormal" behavior, most simultaneously embrace Durkheim's famous dictum of crime as "normal" behavior. A review of Durkheim's theory of crime causation reveals that it is burdened by several serious logical flaws. And ironically, despite hi…
The nature of crime: Is cheating necessary for cooperation
Keeping them Out of the Hands of Satan: Evangelical Schooling in America
A General Theory of Expropriative Crime: An Evolutionary Ecological Approach
Ever since Durkheim, many social scientists have subscribed to the premise that deviance and crime anre "normal" properties of naturally functioning social systems. When trying to explain the causes of these behaviors, however, many social scientists typically resort to the idea of "pathological" origins. On the whole, social scientists have yet to explain how and why "normal" individuals operating in unexceptional social environments deviate and…
The Sociology of Conversion
This essay reviews recent research on religious conversion, particularly within the context of new religious movements. It addresses three fundamental issues pertinent to the study of conversion: first, the conceptualization and nature of conversion; second, the analytic status of converts' accounts; and third, the causes of conversion. The chapter concludes with a proposed agenda for subsequent research on conversion and related topics
The Bard of Savagery: Thorstein Veblen and Modern Social Theory. John P. Diggins
The Convert as a Social Type
Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change
On the Presumed Fragility of Unconventional Beliefs
Upon encountering an unconventional belief system, people are often heard to exclaim: How could anyone in his right mind believe such nonsense? This sentiment is not restricted to the layperson. A more subtle version of it is featured in some of the social scientific literature on religious cults an movements. As such, it gives rise to explanations of cult or movement viability that are premised on an assumption that unconventional religious beli…
The Sociology of Religion: Classical and Contemporary Approaches
A General Theory of Expropriative Crime: An Evolutionary Ecological Approach
Ever since Durkheim, many social scientists have subscribed to the premise that deviance and crime anre "normal" properties of naturally functioning social systems. When trying to explain the causes of these behaviors, however, many social scientists typically resort to the idea of "pathological" origins. On the whole, social scientists have yet to explain how and why "normal" individuals operating in unexceptional social environments deviate and…
The Convert as a Social Type
Sociology and the Second Darwinian Revolution: A Metatheoretical Analysis
Sociologists tend to eschew biological explanations of human social behavior. Accordingly, when evolutionary biologists began to apply neo-Darwinian theory to the study of human social behavior, the reactions of sociologists typically ranged from indifference to overt hostility. Since the mid-1960s, however, neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has stimulated a 'second Darwinian revolution' in traditional social scientific conceptions of human natur…
On the Presumed Fragility of Unconventional Beliefs
Upon encountering an unconventional belief system, people are often heard to exclaim: How could anyone in his right mind believe such nonsense? This sentiment is not restricted to the layperson. A more subtle version of it is featured in some of the social scientific literature on religious cults an movements. As such, it gives rise to explanations of cult or movement viability that are premised on an assumption that unconventional religious beli…
The Normalcy of Crime: From Durkheim to Evolutionary Ecology
A troublesome but generally ignored paradox characterizes contemporary sociological explanations of crime causation. Although many sociologists interpret crime as if it were pathological or aberrant and thus "abnormal" behavior, most simultaneously embrace Durkheim's famous dictum of crime as "normal" behavior. A review of Durkheim's theory of crime causation reveals that it is burdened by several serious logical flaws. And ironically, despite hi…
Evolution, Biology, and Society: A Conversation for the 21st-Century Sociology Classroom
Recently, a growing contingent of “evolutionary sociologists” has begun to integrate theoretical ideas and empirical findings derived from evolutionary biology, especially sociobiology, into a variety of sociological inquiries. Without capitulating to a naive version of either biological reductionism or genetic determinism, these researchers and theorists have begun to synthesize sociological thought with research produced in various branches of …
Invisible' Religions: Some Preliminary Evidence
One historic function of institutionalized religion is the designation of life's ultimate concerns and the provision of strategies for coping with them. Yinger's functional definition of religion is used in this study to discern (1) what the residents of an urban neighborhood in the Deep South define as life's ultimate concerns, and (2) the strategies they use to cope with them. The findings help support Luckmann's contention of the existence of …
The nature of crime: Is cheating necessary for cooperation
Is Secularization a Discontinuous Process
Invisible' Religions: Some Preliminary Evidence
One historic function of institutionalized religion is the designation of life's ultimate concerns and the provision of strategies for coping with them. Yinger's functional definition of religion is used in this study to discern (1) what the residents of an urban neighborhood in the Deep South define as life's ultimate concerns, and (2) the strategies they use to cope with them. The findings help support Luckmann's contention of the existence of …
The Military and the Problem of Legitimacy
Definitional Strategies in the Study of Religion
This essay addresses the basic question: what criteria should be used in constructing and evaluating scientific definitions of religion? Alternatives are considered and the general criterion of analytical utility is proferred. It is argued that as different definitional strategies are adopted to produce different kinds of knowledge, various criteria must be enjoined in evaluating the various kinds of definitions proposed. The debate over definiti…
The Consciousness Reformation
Is Secularization a Discontinuous Process
The Sociology of Religion: Classical and Contemporary Approaches
On the Presumed Fragility of Unconventional Beliefs
Upon encountering an unconventional belief system, people are often heard to exclaim: How could anyone in his right mind believe such nonsense? This sentiment is not restricted to the layperson. A more subtle version of it is featured in some of the social scientific literature on religious cults an movements. As such, it gives rise to explanations of cult or movement viability that are premised on an assumption that unconventional religious beli…
The Bard of Savagery: Thorstein Veblen and Modern Social Theory. John P. Diggins
The Convert as a Social Type
Getting Saved from the Sixties: Moral Meaning in Conversion and Cultural Change
The Sociology of Conversion
This essay reviews recent research on religious conversion, particularly within the context of new religious movements. It addresses three fundamental issues pertinent to the study of conversion: first, the conceptualization and nature of conversion; second, the analytic status of converts' accounts; and third, the causes of conversion. The chapter concludes with a proposed agenda for subsequent research on conversion and related topics
A General Theory of Expropriative Crime: An Evolutionary Ecological Approach
Ever since Durkheim, many social scientists have subscribed to the premise that deviance and crime anre "normal" properties of naturally functioning social systems. When trying to explain the causes of these behaviors, however, many social scientists typically resort to the idea of "pathological" origins. On the whole, social scientists have yet to explain how and why "normal" individuals operating in unexceptional social environments deviate and…
Keeping them Out of the Hands of Satan: Evangelical Schooling in America
The nature of crime: Is cheating necessary for cooperation
The Normalcy of Crime: From Durkheim to Evolutionary Ecology
A troublesome but generally ignored paradox characterizes contemporary sociological explanations of crime causation. Although many sociologists interpret crime as if it were pathological or aberrant and thus "abnormal" behavior, most simultaneously embrace Durkheim's famous dictum of crime as "normal" behavior. A review of Durkheim's theory of crime causation reveals that it is burdened by several serious logical flaws. And ironically, despite hi…
Darwinizing Crime Control Policies: Additional Recommendations
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Evolutionary Biology and Human Nature: The Archaeology of Epigenetic Rules
More than a quarter century has passed since E. O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Research Professor and Honorary Curator in Entomology of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, Pu
Sociology and the Second Darwinian Revolution: A Metatheoretical Analysis
Sociologists tend to eschew biological explanations of human social behavior. Accordingly, when evolutionary biologists began to apply neo-Darwinian theory to the study of human social behavior, the reactions of sociologists typically ranged from indifference to overt hostility. Since the mid-1960s, however, neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory has stimulated a 'second Darwinian revolution' in traditional social scientific conceptions of human natur…
Suspending Routine Duty: The Sociological Significance of Military Holidays and Ceremonies
Recently, the sociologist Amitai Etzioni developed a theory of the significance of holidays as 'seedbeds of virtue' and agents of socialization. With minor modifications, Etzioni's theory can shed light on the sociological significance of holiday celebrations and ceremonies in military organizations. This article focuses on two key aspects of military holidays that distinguish them from their civilian counterparts: (1) the centrality of the norma…
Biosociological Theories
Biosociological theories integrate biology into sociological explanations of human social behavior. They do so by incorporating theoretical ideas and empirical discoveries from various branches of biology including evolutionary biology (especially sociobiology and behavioral ecology ), ecology, ethology, neurobiology, endocrinology, and population genetics. In sociology, most biosociological theories are emerging in a new specialty area known as …
Evolutionary Theory Seems So Easy”: Reply to Lucal and Hanson
Evolution, Biology, and Society: A Conversation for the 21st-Century Sociology Classroom
Recently, a growing contingent of “evolutionary sociologists” has begun to integrate theoretical ideas and empirical findings derived from evolutionary biology, especially sociobiology, into a variety of sociological inquiries. Without capitulating to a naive version of either biological reductionism or genetic determinism, these researchers and theorists have begun to synthesize sociological thought with research produced in various branches of …
The Origins of Sociable Life: Evolution After Science Studies
Sociobiology and Sociology: A New Synthesis
Handbook on Evolution and Society: Toward an Evolutionary Social Science
Sociology (26 works) · Epistemology (19 works) · Philosophy (16 works) · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation (13 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Social science (11 works) · Anthropology (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (7 works) · Biology (6 works)