Elaine Bell Kaplan
· Professor of SociologyUniversity of Southern California · Sociology
Active 1984–2023
About
Elaine Bell Kaplan is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California, with a focus on race and ethnic relations, social inequality, youth, gender, and education. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, earned in December 1988, and has been a faculty member at USC since January 1992, progressing from assistant to associate, and then to full professor as of June 2021. Her research primarily involves analyzing structural conditions that restrict opportunities for racial/ethnic groups, women, children, and youth, emphasizing understanding their lived experiences through interpretive and qualitative methodologies such as ethnography and in-depth interviews. Kaplan has also developed courses integrating visual sociology, which explore social relations through visual representations like photographs and videos, helping students develop sociological imaginations about everyday life. She has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students, guiding their research projects and dissertations. Her recent work includes examining perceptions of Black and Latinx Millennials and Generation Z regarding their communities' past, present, and future, contributing to discussions on social inequality and youth experiences.
Research topics
- Sociology
- Political Science
- Anthropology
- Social Science
- Media studies
- Gender studies
- Law
- Physics
- Pedagogy
Selected publications
2023-04-28 · 1 citations
book1st authorCorrespondingSociological Perspectives · 2020 · 1 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Sociology
- Sociology
- Media studies
The Millennial/Gen Z Leftists Are Emerging: Are Sociologists Ready for Them?
Sociological Perspectives · 2020 · 46 citations
1st authorCorresponding- Sociology
- Sociology
- Social Science
Sociology is being challenged by the new generation of students and scholars who have another view of society. Millennial/Gen Zs are the most progressive generation since the 1960s. We have had many opportunities to discuss and imagine power, diversity, and social change when we teach them in our classes or attend their campus events. Some Millennial/Gen Z believe, especially those in academia, that social scientists are tied to old theories and ideologies about race and gender, among other inconsistencies. These old ideas do not resonate with their views regarding equity. Millennials are not afraid to challenge the status quo. They do so already by supporting multiple gender and race identities. Several questions come to mind. How do we as sociologists with our sense of history and other issues such as racial and gender inequality help them along the way? Are we ready for this generation? Are they ready for us?
Ain’t No Trust: How Bosses, Boyfriends, and Bureaucrats Fail Low-Income Mothers and Why It Matters
Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · 2015-04-16 · 2 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingAbandoned in the Heartland: Work, Family, and Living in East St. Louis
Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · 2013-03-01
article1st authorCorrespondingCaring for Young Teenagers Interview
PsycTESTS Dataset · 2010-01-01
dataset1st authorCorrespondingJournal of Contemporary Ethnography · 2010-11-14 · 2 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingThis study draws on the literature on care and on parents’ perceptions of their teenagers’ needs and on their own abilities and their spouses’ ability to perform the necessary caring tasks. Ethnographic interviews with 30 working parents revealed three specific caring strategies—the scheduling parent, the worry-shift parent, and the parent of last resort—all designed to maintain a sense of control over their teenagers. Rather than produce strategies that are based on negotiations with family members, parents in this study tended to develop their own individual strategies when confronted with a set of problems in caring for young teenagers, principle among these is the contested nature of teenagers’ need for care—contested by the educational institution, by employers, by spouses, and teenagers themselves. The study concludes by suggesting that these parents’ strategies lead to unequal divisions of emotional care that are shaped by gender and institutional intransigence.
Doing Business with Beauty: Black Women, Hair Salons, and the Racial Enclave Economy
Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · 2009-03-01 · 15 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingCatching Hell in the City of Angels: Life and Meanings of Blackness in South Central Los Angeles
Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · 2008-03-01 · 6 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingPubMed · 2003-01-01 · 38 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingThis study is based on interviews with four focus groups consisting of fourteen white, Latina, and black girls, ages 13 to 16 years, from diverse backgrounds. The objectives of the study are to gain insight into what forum girls use to learn about the adolescent experience and to examine teenage girls' views of their sexuality and femininity. The girls' discussion of their lives and perceptions of the teen magazine Seventeen reveal a displacement of female sexuality. The magazine's message to teenage girls of gaining self-worth through emphasized femininity seems to resonate with these girls regardless of class and race. We conclude that responsible adults need to challenge the distorted media images of adolescent development and teenage girls' sexuality.
Frequent coauthors
- 1 shared
Ruth Horowitz
- 1 shared
Margaret A. Riley
Miami University
- 1 shared
Shannon Stoney
- 1 shared
Helen Cafferty
- 1 shared
Karen Seccombe
- 1 shared
Lisa Dodson
- 1 shared
Leslie Cole
Pathways Behavioral Services
- 1 shared
Rita J. Simon
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