UC Riverside

This dissertation introduces the idea of sequestration, or the separation of populations and social resources based on perceived social worth of the populations involved. I demonstrate the separation of socially valued populations and socially valued resources from those that are not valued using regression methods and data for Los Angeles County in 2000. I find that significantly more park lands of better quality are allocated for upper middle-class neighborhoods than for the poorer areas. Significantly more social service facilities are located in lower income areas. Arrest rates indicate that more active policing patterns are present in areas with higher income and higher rates of home ownership. Disproportionate monitoring of privileged populations, service centers, and discovered crimes, and profiling by law enforcement help to explain these patterns. Content analysis using local newspaper coverage of various Los Angeles County communities indicates that news media favors coverage of the higher income populations and ignores the difficulties of life for lower income populations. The mainstream media is an important instrument by which plausibility structures and elite agendas are disseminated. Privileged populations display a sense of proprietary ownership of government and its resources. I introduce a theoretical outline of the manifestations of power in society and qualitatively demonstrate the concepts using examples from local newspaper articles and the historical treatment of Native Americans by the U.S. government. I argue that U.S. society resembles a "total institution" because institutional resources and political authority are concentrated in very few hands. I propose that anomie can be conceived as a product of the asymmetric operation of institutions in society which allocates more and better rewards for those with higher social standing and at the same time stigmatize the less powerful populations. Anomie is seen as a prevalent condition in western society and can be measured by the lack of participation in primary institutions by large segments of the population, as illustrated by low voter turnout, lack of religious affiliation, high rates of non-marriage, and school dropout rates.