Transcript Durkheim`s Ideas

Emile Durkheim
(1858-1917)
Personal Information
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Born April 1858
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Jewish section of Epinal, France
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Family: Close-knit
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Not wealthy but respected
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Hey Hey Durkheim
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgA41FMY0oQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxVImdGYu3I
Functionalism
Personal Information
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1887 first faculty appointment
 1st Sociology course
Chair: Dept. of Social Sciences
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Married, 2 children
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1896-1902 (University of Bordeaux)
(Son, Andre died in WWI)
Died at 59
Social Environment
 Rapid
industrialization
 Conflict:
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Workers and Owners
Paris Commune (1871)
 Workers seized Paris
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Established egalitarian republic
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Government destroyed commune
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Killed 20,000 working-class people
Social Environment: France
 History
of Political Instability
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Monarchy of Louis XVI
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French Revolution (1789)
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Dictatorship of Napoleon I (1799-1815)
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Restoration of Bourbon monarchy
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Bourbons overthrown (1830)
Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette
Napoleon I
History of Political Instability
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Monarchy of Louis Philippe
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Revolution ended monarchy (1848)
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2nd Republic (1848-1852)
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Emperor Napoleon III (1852-1870)
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Nephew of Napoleon I
Deposed after defeat in Franco-Prussian
War
Louis Philippe
Napoleon III
(Nephew of Napoleon I)
History of Political Instability
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Durkheim lived in 3rd Republic
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People had lost moral unity
Remnants of previous governments
 People supported:
 Democracy
 Monarchy
 Socialism
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Durkheim’s 3 Basic Concerns
1) Instability
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Economic
Political
2) Violence
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Workers & employers
Between nations
Anti-Semitism
3) Decadence
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Self-centered
No sense of community
Sociology the Solution
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Purpose of Sociology=Explain how
to make modern society work
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Develop positivist laws
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Solve problems
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Address moral crises
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Create stability
Morality
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Morality composed of three elements:
1.
Discipline
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2.
Attachment
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3.
(Constrains egoistic impulses)
(Voluntarily join groups)
Autonomy
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(Individual responsibility)
Sources of Morality
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Education
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Provides children with moral tools
Occupational associations
 Adults acquire morals
Intellectual Influences
 Kant
 Morality
without divinity
 Sense of duty
 Saint-Simon
 Sociology->Moral
laws
 Hold society together
Intellectual Influences
 Comte
 Focus:
Social stability & change
 Spencer
 Social
evolution
Ideas
Social Solidarity
Dynamic Density
Social Facts
Collective Consciousness
Collective Representations
Social Currents
Society as a distinct social reality
Individual as Dualistic
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Social Solidarity
A
set of norms, values, and
morals that hold a certain group
of people together
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“The ties that bind”
Social context:
 Growing individualism
 Social dislocation
 Moral diversification
Social Solidarity
1) Mechanical Solidarity
 Non-industrial societies
 Minimal division of labor
 Few occupations
 Similarity bound people together
Social Solidarity
2) Organic Solidarity
 More advanced societies (industrial)
 Increased division of labor
 Many occupations
 Difference and Interdependency
create solidarity
Social Facts
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“Ways of acting, thinking, & feeling,
external to the individual & endowed with
the power of coercion, by reason of which
they control him.”
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Independent of any single individual
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Only explained by other social facts
Social Facts-3 General Types
1. Material facts
 Social
structures
 Economy,
Family, Social class
 Morphological
Facts
Form and Structure
 Population
size and density
 Geographical location
Social Facts
(cont.)
2. Nonmaterial facts
 Norms
 Values
 Collective
representations
 Collective
consciousness
Social Facts
(cont.)
3. Social currents
 Not
as clearly formed
 Examples:
Enthusiasm
in crowds
Indignation in crowds
Depression in particular social
groups
Collective Consciousness
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Totality of beliefs & sentiments
common to the average member of
society
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Exists before individuals
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Survives individuals
Collective Consciousness
(cont.)
 Experienced
as external force
 Shapes behavior
 Varies
from society to society
 Based on division of labor
Collective Consciousness
4 dimensions
1. Volume=Number of people involved
2. Intensity=How deeply people feel
about the belief
3. Rigidity=Clarity of the definition
4. Content=Form collective consciousness
takes
4 Dimensions
Marriage in Feudal Societies
(Mechanical Societies)
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Volume=Most people involved
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Intensity=Felt deeply about it
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Rigidity=Clearly defined
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Content=Religious & economic
4 Dimensions
Marriage Today
(Organic Society)
 Volume=Large
# but smaller %
 Intensity=Feel
less deeply
of population
 Rigidity=Less
clearly defined
 Content=Personal
choice
Society & Social Reality
 Society
as a distinct form of
social reality
 Cannot
be reduced to biology or
psychology
 Society
is not the mere sum of
its parts
Individual as Dualistic
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Individual part and Social part
 Individual
part
 Bioorganic
 Inborn
 Self-centered
Individual as Dualistic
 Social
Part
 Develops
through interaction
 Socialization
 Altruistic
 Group
oriented
 Needs
nurturing & developing
Anomie
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Norms (expectations for behavior)
are:
 Confused
 Unclear or
 Not present
Normlessness
Anomie
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Modern individuals insufficiently
integrated into society ->
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Weakening bonds
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Social regulation breaks down
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Societal control on individual
desires & interests is ineffective
Individuals on their own
Anomie
 Human’s
dual nature->
Breakdown of morals
 Rising
rates of deviance
 Social unrest
 Unhappiness
 Stress
Research
Suicide rates are social facts
4 types of suicide:
1. Egoistic
2. Altruistic
3. Anomic
4. Fatalistic
Research on Suicide
 Durkheim
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defined suicide as:
“death resulting directly or
indirectly from a positive or
negative act of the victim himself,
which he knows will produce this
result.”
Egoistic Suicide
Low social integration
 Group solidarity declined
 Individual must depend on self
 Excessive individualism
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Vulnerable groups:
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Urban dwellers
Industrial workers
Protestants
Unmarried men
Altruistic Suicide
High social integration
 Excessive integration into group
 Completely absorbed by group
 Duty to commit suicide for group
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Examples:
 Observed more in less “civilized”
societies
 One group in modern society—
Army
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Anomic Suicide
Low social regulation
 Breakdown of moral community
 No rules or vague rules
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Examples:
 Adolescents
 Older white men
Fatalistic Suicide
Excessive social regulation
 Too tightly controlled
 Few choices
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Examples:
 Slaves
 Very young husbands
 Married women--when divorce
is not available
Contribution to Sociology
 Institutionalized
Sociology
 Taught first class
 Defined
sociology’s area of
research
 Research
illustrated sociology’s
usefulness
Contribution to Sociology
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Set the standard for research style
& presentation
 Literature review
 Theoretical context
 Testable hypotheses
 Use of statistics
 Implications of findings