Sociological Insight Volume 5 | May 2013 Sociological Insight Volume 5 | May 2013 Editors & Staff Editor-in-Chief: Taylor Orth Managing Editor: Travis Singley Executive Staff: Philip Bartholomew, Mario Guerra, Amanda Lacey, David Oh, Niki Taliaferro Associate Editors: Su Baen, Ian Bratcher, Lily Choi, Audria Choudhury, Jonathan Cortez, Tiffany Fong, Tiffany Fung, Sabrina Khwaja, William Malsam, Andrew Messamore, Sara Reinsch, Stephen Sheffield, Sharron Xuanren Wang Cover Designer: David Bensen Editorial Board Sheldon Ekland-Olson University of Texas at Austin Pamela Paxton University of Texas at Austin Hossein Haghshenas University of Texas at Austin Address for Correspondence Department of Sociology The University of Texas at Austin CLA 3.306, Mailcode A1700 Austin, TX 78712-0118 http://blogs.utexas.edu/socinsight © Copyright 2013 Department of Sociology, The University of Texas at Austin Disclaimer: Sociological Insight cannot be held responsible for errors or any consequences arising from use of information published in this journal. The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of The University of Texas at Austin, the Department of Sociology, or the Editors. Contents 1 From the Editor Taylor Orth Articles 4 “Professional Friend,” Secret Domains, and the Dutch Doula: A Theoretical Application of the Stranger Monica He 16 Employing Simulation Methodology to Test the Effects of Mortgage Discrimination on Residential Segregation Bridget Clark 31 Talk about Crisis: Everyday Life in Detroit Chris Lewis 48 Covering the Peace Movement: How Three U.S. Newspapers Portray Pacifists and Peace Activism Lessye DeMoss 64 Analyzing the Impact of Grutter v. Bollinger William Brotherson Book Reviews 78 Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity by Loïc Wacquant Ian Bratcher Biographies 80 Biographies From the Editor avigating one’s way through immense bodies of academic research is a grand, yet exhausting task. Contributing something novel to this body of scholarly literature is nothing short of a Nmiracle. For five years now, Sociological Insight has successfully provided undergraduates throughout the United States with a portal in which to publish their findings into the realm of sociological research. The general model of education in the United States teaches students to become efficient consumers of knowledge. It requires them to read books, memorize formulas and synthesize information. While most students successfully master this technique, very few take the next step. The shift one makes from being a consumer of knowledge to becoming a producer of knowledge is considered by some to be the most profound intellectual leap possible. It requires qualities of astute discernment, untiring perseverance and shrewd ingenuity. For an undergraduate to have successfully made this leap is not an easy feat. However, there remain few outlets for undergraduates to showcase the fruits of their tireless efforts. Their minimal credentials exclude them from publishing in traditional academic publications. It was the recognition of this untapped source that inspired the development of Sociological Insight. Today, we continue our original mission by giving students a platform to contribute their own scholarly findings to existing bodies of literature. In addition, Sociological Insight serves a variety of less obvious and more latent objectives. By spending a great deal of time reviewing submitted papers, the students who make up the staff of the journal are exposed to a diverse composition of scholarly work produced by their peers. Additionally, staff members are able to expand their scholarly networks by interacting with faculty members and graduate students, as well as undergraduates with similar academic interests. The staff ofSociological Insight has worked tirelessly to make this journal a reality. Unlike other types of academic journals, undergraduate journals require a complete reshuffling of staff members year after year. What this means is that each year a new group of brave undergraduates takes on the daunting task of learning to bring a collection of fresh ideas and research findings together, to produce what is Sociological Insight. Our staff is made up of a core group of executive staffers, and a larger community of associate editors and graduate and faculty reviewers. The peer review process for Sociological Insight is divided into three rounds, or tiers. Round one is an initial desk-reject decision made by the executive staff, ensuring that a particular paper meets our submission guidelines and has a certain level of professional, substantive content to warrant a full review. In the second round, each paper that passed the desk reject is given to an undergraduate and graduate student pair for blind review. The review pair has two weeks to complete its review of the paper(s) and make a decision to accept, or reject, revise and resubmit. If the decision is to revise and resubmit, the paper is sent back to the author with an attached document of the revisions 2 Sociological Insight that need to be made in order for the paper to be worthy of publication. Once the revised paper is resubmitted and reviewed for the necessary changes, all papers that passed the second round are sent on to UT Austin sociology faculty reviewers, based on areas of specialization, for final review. At this stage, the professors are asked to make a recommendation on whether or not the paper needs further revisions or is acceptable for publication as-is. After the faculty recommendations have been received, the executive staff meets to make a final list of the papers that will be published in the upcoming volume of the journal. Our rigorous review process allows us to continue Sociological Insight’s mission of raising the bar for undergraduate social science research by encouraging sociologists-in-training to think deeper, work harder and go farther. Without the support of a wide variety of sources, Sociological Insight would be merely a group of interested students reading through cool, new research. However, because of the support we are provided, we are able to channel our energy into turning the research we are interested in into a complete and polished physical body of work. We would like to express our gratitude to UT’s College of Liberal Arts for gracious financial contributions that are essential to the production of our journal. Additionally, we would like to thank the UT Sociology Department for unending financial, intellectual and emotional support. People often fail to realize the complex network of individuals that make up an academic department. Departments are comprised not only of professors, but also of a variety of researchers, lecturers, advisors, graduate students, webmasters, managers and accountants. Individuals in each and every one of these positions were key players in the review process and final production of the journal. We have always been encouraged by the chair of the department, Dr. Christine Williams, who continues to provide an outlet for undergraduates to contribute research to the discipline. Without her devout support, Sociological Insight would be nothing more than an abstract idea. Additionally, we owe endless amounts of gratitude to our faculty advisor, Dr. Ekland-Olson. A beloved teacher and mentor to many students in the sociology department, Dr. Ekland-Olson has not only allowed our journal to continue functioning, but has also given us the opportunity to expand our core goals and purposes. In countless conversations with other sociology students at UT, I have found that Dr. Ekland-Olson consistently emerged as a key influence in the development and academic pursuits of many students. Additionally, Dr. Ekland-Olson has been a key figure in my own academic journey. After taking his class, Life and Death Decisions, which was rated one of “America’s 10 Hottest Classes,” I developed a genuine interest in academic research, particularly in sociology. Two years later, he provided me with a way to further develop my intellectual curiosities by funding two members of Sociological Insight to attend the American Sociological Association: Annual Meeting 2012 in order to promote our journal. While Dr. Ekland-Olson is our journal’s primary advisor, all Sociological Insight staff members can attest to the copious amounts of support they have received from a wide range of faculty members. Even those who haven’t contributed to the journal directly have played an important role in shaping the intellectual imaginations of our staff members. Particularly vital to the success of the journal are our faculty reviewers, Dr. Hossein Haghshenas and Dr. Pamela Paxton. Many staff members of Sociological Insight are not only reviewers of academic research, but producers as well. Dr. Penny Green has been From the Editor 3 instrumental in allowing them to do so and in providing students with a safe and accessible forum to openly discuss and debate intellectual theories and ideas. On a more personal note, I would like to thank the faculty members whose mentoring and open doors have allowed me to grow intellectually and instilled in me the value of academic research. These include Dr. Keith Robinson, Dr. Shannon Cavanagh and Dr. Néstor Rodriguez, as well as many others. Another person to whom the journal and myself are indebted is sociology advisor Debbie Rothschild. I came to fully appreciate Debbie’s devotion to the department and its students after spending a semester working in the advising office alongside her. She goes above and beyond the requirements of an advisor by finding an answer to every question and never taking no for an answer. For five years now she has selflessly handled the administrative aspects of the journal and has carefully ensured that every minute detail is attended to. Additionally, Michelle Robertson has been essential in organizing our finances and providing us with a suitable meeting space. Webmaster Kevin Hsu has also been instrumental in helping us design and run our beautiful web page. Most of all, I would like to thank Sociological Insight’s former editor-in-chief, Christopher Robertson.