Asian Studies - East Asia - Japan, Japanese History - Social Aspects, Social Control, Asian Sociology, Japanese History - General & Miscellaneous, Sociology - General & Miscellaneous, National Characteristics - Asia, Social Psychology

Order By Accident

Name: Order By Accident
Author: Alan Miller
ISBN: 9780813339214

by Alan Miller, Satoshi Kanazawa

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Overview

While the consequences of low social order are well understood, the consequences of high social order are not. Yet perhaps nowhere in the world is social order so well developed as in Japan, which is highly organized, economically successful, and enjoys a safe society. However, Japan pays a price--the loss of personal freedom, and the inability to exploit its citizens' talents.In Order by Accident, Alan S. Miller and Satoshi Kanazawa discuss the consequences of high social order in Japan. They integrate a wide range of scholarship on Japan, ranging from studies by criminologists, to religious studies, to the most current social psychological studies. The results are sometimes startling and counterintuitive, since the same theory of social order explains equally well why Japan has an orderly society with low street crimes, but is plagued with problems such as white collar crime.

Synopsis

This book explains the emergence of social order in Japan as an unintended consequence of institutionalized group conformity, and then traces out how that conformity affects a wide range of social characteristics from religious behavior to crime rates.

Booknews

Based on their observations of Japanese society, Miller (behavioral science, Hokkaido University) and Kanazawa (sociology, Indiana University) consider the cost of highly developed social order. Drawing from criminology, religious studies, and social psychology, they examine the impacts of conformity on individual freedom, personal fulfillment, and the development of trusting relationships. They explain the major theories of social order and social control and analyze the institutions responsible for maintaining each, including the educational system, work, and the family. Crime is given special consideration, since Japan has famously little street crime, but disproportionately high rates of white collar crime. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About the Author, Alan Miller

Alan S. Miller is Professor of Behavioral Science at Hokkaido University, Japan and is an Affiliate Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington. He has worked for the Environmental Sciences wing of the Science Applications International Corporation. Miller holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington. He is the author of over 20 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals concerned with the areas of crime and deviant behavior, religion, and comparative social psychology.Satoshi Kanazawais Assistant Professor of Sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has written widely in the areas of social psychology, political sociology, marriage and the family, criminology, macrosociology, mathematical sociology, theory, and methodology. His recent articles have appeared in American Sociological Review,American Journal of Sociology,Social Forces, Journal of Politics, Sociological Theory, and Evolution and Human Behavior. Alan S. Miller is Professor of Behavioral Science at Hokkaido University, Japan and is an Affiliate Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington. He has worked for the Environmental Sciences wing of the Science Applications International Corporation. Miller holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington. He is the author of over 20 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals concerned with the areas of crime and deviant behavior, religion, and comparative social psychology.Satoshi Kanazawais Assistant Professor of Sociology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has written widely in the areas of social psychology, political sociology, marriage and the family, criminology, macrosociology, mathematical sociology, theory, and methodology. His recent articles have appeared in American Sociological Review,American Journal of Sociology,Social Forces, Journal of Politics, Sociological Theory, and Evolution and Human Behavior.