Abstract. Analysis of attitudes toward the use of force by police finds that in 1991 70% of white and 43% of black respondents "approve of a policeman striking an adult male citizen" under some circumstances. A pattern is found of groups with greater power, status and advantages (whites, males, the more educated and the more wealthy) being more likely to favor police use of force than are less privileged groups. Other factors found to have significant net relationships with support for police violence include, beliefs about personality characteristics of minorities and poor people, religious conservatism, having been the victim of violence, gun ownership, views on appropriate child rearing goals or values, and feelings about courts treatment and sentencing of criminals.

In the sociology of racial prejudice, two major paradigms can be distinguished: Cultural-environmental and social class or conflict paradigms. On the basis of Durkheimian theory, it is hypothesized that cultural-environmental variables (education, knowledge) offer stronger and more consistent explanations of racial prejudice than status variables (self-perceived class position, occupational prestige, income). To test this hypothesis, National Opinion Research Center (NORC) data are analyzed. Findings corroborate the major cultural-environmental hypothesis that racial prejudice emerges from ritually dense sociocultural lifeforms. Little support is found for the claim that prejudice arises from class conflict and competition over material resources.

Bumper stickers and other signs displayed on private motor vehicles are a ubiquitous part of modem mobile American society. Through thii medium of expression, thousands of ideas, values, groups, witticisms and expressions of selfhood compete for public attention. We each see tens of thousands of these messages each year, and each message that is displayed is likely to be seen tens or even hundreds of thousands of times by members of the general public within their environment' Among earlier generations in American society, ideas, values, symbols and identities were shaped and shared more through personal, face-to-face interactions in families, churches, schools, local political institutions and neighborhoods. In contrast, the modem urban society is characterized by interactions among anonymous strangers and communications received through mass medii s~urces.~ Within this environment, relatively few opportunities exist for individuals to contribute to the cultural store of ideas, symbols and perspectives. Bumper stickers and car signs provide opportunities to (a) interject one's own perspectives, values and statements into the environment of massmediated messages; (b) proclaim a unique personal identity through symbols and statements representing one's interests, affiliations, values and claims to glory, thus attempting to escape the anonymity which characterizes much of modem life; and (c) observe new, often creative messages, symbols and usages being introduced into the culture environment of ideas.'This study was designed to determine what messages are being displayed on private passenger vehicles, heir frequency and the kinds of vehicles most likely to use this medium for expression. Theoretical Perspectives and HypothesesBoth the general conflict perspective' and the symbolic interactionist perspectives were employed to interpret the uses of bumper stickers and car signs within our present cultural environment. Control over the ideas, symbols

Humor is a significant weapon in interpersonal and intergroup conflict and competition. Over the centuries, males have used humor and jokes to create and perpetuate patriarchal ideals, relationships, and structures. Today, feminists and other proponents of gender equality use humor to deconstruct patriarchal ideologies and sexist stereotypes. This exploratory study analyzes a collection of over 1,700 jokes identified as feminist and women's humor to discover what these jokes suggest with regard to the male-dominant structure in society and how these jokes are subversive in attempting to disrupt gender stereotypes and roles. We find that the humor of women and feminists seeks, in part, to discredit assumptions of males' superiority, masterfulness, sexual prowess, and extraordinary value to women and society. These jokes may, however, also work to reinforce stereotypes associated with men and women: "If they could send a man to the moon, why not just send all of them?"

Sociological research on racial prejudice has generated consistent and reliable empirical findings on the social determinants of prejudice, but comprehensive theoretical explanations of the social forces that promote prejudice tend to be controversial. Two such theoretical perspectives are examined and then compared for their ability to explain prejudice; namely Durkheim's theory of cognition and the neoevolutionist approach to sociocultural modernization and ontogenetic maturation. An attempt also is made to merge the interactionist and evolutionist arguments for the purpose of developing a comprehensive explanation of prejudice.

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