Transcript Introduction to Sociology

Introduction to
Sociology
What is Sociology?
 Sociology is the systematic study
of human behaviour in a social
context
 interactions between two or more
people
 organization – hierarchy
- institutions

Sociology challenges our assumption about
the way the world works
What causes the following?
1. Famine
- Drought?
If drought causes famine, why have so many
famines occurred in places with perfectly
normal weather conditions or involve some
groups hoarding food so others would starve?
2. War
- territorial greed?
If territorial greed causes war, how do
you explain countries that are not
adjacent to each other going to war?
3. Economic Success
- hard work?
If hard work causes prosperity, why are
so many hard working people poor?
4. Marriage – why do we marry?
- Love?
If love leads to marriage, why are there
so many people divorcing?
5. Suicide
 Depression?
If depression leads to suicide, why don’t all
depressed people commit suicide?
Suicide From a Sociological
Perspective
Suicide
- appears to be anti-social (exceptions)
- condemned by most people, religion
- committed typically in private
- When trying to understand suicide, we tend
to focus on the individual and their state of
mind
Emile Durkheim (1859-1917)
 Sociologist
 First person to study suicide
 Studied the association between rates of
suicide and rates of psychological disorder for
different sexes and age groups
 Studied commonly held assumptions about
suicide
 Assumption One:
People who are psychologically unwell are
more likely to commit suicide
- Durkheim studied the number of
males/females in insane asylums
- more women than men in insane
asylums
- If more women are insane, then they
should have a higher rate of suicide
BUT
- Durkheim discovered that there were four
male suicides for every female suicide
- Therefore, psychological disorder is not
an indicator of suicide
Assumption Two:
Psychological disorders are more frequently
present by the time a person reaches maturity
Durkheim studied suicide rates based on age
- discovered that suicide rates increased steadily
with age
Therefore, psychological disorder is not an
indicator of suicide
 By studying suicide rates, Durkheim
dispelled the myth that suicides were
associated with psychological
disorder
If psychological disorder is not an indicator
of suicide, then what causes suicide?
Durkheim’s Data:
1. Married adults are half as likely to
commit suicide than unmarried adults
Why?
- Marriage creates social ties and cements
individuals to a group
2. Women are less likely to commit suicide
Why?
- More involved in the intimate relations of
family life
- Females are culturally sanctioned to
express emotion and show vulnerability
- Females are encouraged to talk to each
other
3. Jewish people are less likely than nonJewish people to commit suicide
Why?
- Centuries of persecution turned the Jewish
people into a closely knit group
4. The elderly are more likely to commit
suicide if faced with misfortune
Why?
More likely to live alone, have lost a
partner, lack a job and large circle of
friends
Results of Study
- Durkheim’s study proved that suicide rates are
strongly influenced by social forces
- Durkheim believed that suicide rates related to
the degree of social solidarity in different groups
* the more cohesive the group, the more firmly
anchored individuals are to the social world and
therefore, less likely to take their own life
 Sociologists attempt to study phenomena
through group interactions and the
organization of society
Think like a sociologist:
In Canada in 2001, the highest rates of
suicide occurred among males between
40 to 44 years of age. Why?
- recession – loss of jobs and contacts
- high divorce rates – loss of family