Transcript Essentials of Sociology Fourth Edition Chapter One

Introduction to Sociology
Sociology 120





Napa Valley College
Social Sciences Division
Glen Bell
Office 1030 E
Office Phone 253-3182
[email protected]
The Sociological Perspective
The sociological perspective opens a window onto unfamiliar
worlds, and offers a fresh look at
familiar worlds.
It enables one to gain a new vision of
social life.
It examines how group membership
influences behavior.
Sociological Perspective
 “Reflective skepticism”- asking important questions
before accepting the propositions asserted; what data
(facts?) do you base your statements on? What interests are
being served if this assertion is accepted? What do you
mean by….? (concept clarification, operational definitions)
 Debunking – looking behind what is typically seen and
accepted in everyday life. What are the range of behaviors,
goals, and interactions in the classroom besides teaching
and learning a subject matter?

Examples: whose interests does the curriculum serve?
why is there a 5’10’’ height requirement to be a cop?
The Sociological Perspective
This perspective allows us to
examine society - a group of
people who share a culture and a
territory.
THE SOCIOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE:
PETER BERGER
 SEE THE GENERAL IN THE PARTICULAR

GENERAL SOCIAL PATTERNS IN THE
BEHAVIOR OF PARTICULAR INDIVIDUALS
• INDIVIDUALS ARE UNIQUE…BUT
• SOCIETY’S SOCIAL FORCES SHAPE US INTO
“KINDS” OF PEOPLE

CONSIDER THESE
• PEOPLE MORE LIKELY TO KILL THEMSELVES
• PEOPLE MORE LIKELY TO GO TO AND SUCCEED
IN COLLEGE AND ENJOY A FAVORABLE QUALITY
OF LIFE
The Sociological Perspective
OBSERVATIONS ARE CERTAINLY
IMPACTED BY THE PERSONAL
PERSPECTIVES THROUGH WHICH
PEOPLE COME TO VIEW THE WORLD
Sociology and the Other
Sciences
Sciencesystematic
methods used to
study the social
and natural worlds.
Sociology- the
scientific study of
society and human
behavior.
A useful way of
comparing these
sciences is to
divide them into the
natural and the
social sciences.
Sociology and the Other
Sciences
Natural Sciencesthe intellectual and
academic disciplines
designed to
comprehend, explain,
and predict the
events in our natural
environment.
Social Sciencesexamine human
relationships in an
attempt to
objectively
understand the
social world.
The Goals of Science
1- To explain why
something
happens.
2- To make
generalizations
that go beyond
the individual
case.
3- To predict what
will happen in the
future.
Scientists rely on
systematic studies
to move beyond
common sensethose ideas that
prevail.
The Origins of Sociology
Sociology is a very
new discipline.
It grew out of
upheaval during
the Industrial
Revolution.
The American and
French Revolutions
encouraged new
thought.
Scientists began
applying the
scientific method
to real world
problems.
THE DISCIPLINE’S ORIGINS
 SOCIOLOGY SPRANG FROM THREE
SEPARATE, YET INTERDEPENDENT
REVOLUTIONS
THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
• A BELIEF IN SCIENCE BEGAN TO REPLACE
TRADITIONAL FORMS OF AUTHORITY
THE ECONOMIC REVOLUTION
• INDUSTRIALISM AND CAPITALISM WERE
CHANGING ECONOMIC PATTERNS
THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION
• MORE DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND STANDARDS
WERE BEING ADOPTED
Auguste Comte
“The Father of Sociology”
Positivism
proposed the idea
of applying the
scientific method
to social life.
Comte called this
new science
“sociology” - the
study of society.
His aim for
sociology was to
reform society.
Comte believed we
must observe
society in order to
uncover it’s
fundamental laws.
Herbert Spencer
“Social Darwinism”
Spencer disagreed
with Comte that
reform should be
the goal.
Spencer believed
no one should
intervene in the
evolution of
society.
Over time,
societies improve.
The fittest
members will
produce an
advanced society.
Karl Marx
Marx stated that the
engine of human
history is class
conflict.
He claimed there is
a strong conflict
between the
bourgeoisie and
the proletariat.
The struggle
between the classes
would end only
when the proletariat
revolted.
The result would be
a classless society.
Marxism is not
communism.
SOCIETY IN CONFLICT
• SOCIAL CONFLICT
–STRUGGLE BETWEEN GROUPS OVER SCARCE
RESOURCES
•SOCIETY AND PRODUCTION
–CAPITALISTS AND THE PROLETARIAT
–SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
•INFRASTRUCTURE AND SUPERSTRUCTURE
•FALSE CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS
– ACCEPTING A NEGATIVE STATUS AS AN
INHERENT TRAIT; “ATTRIBUTION ERROR”
Karl Marx
•Emphasized the importance of socioeconomic classes:
–Capitalists-
ones who owned the “means of production”
–Bourgeoisie
–Proletariat
– small business owners
– working class
–Lumpenproletariat
– (scum class) useless excess of humanity
discarded by capitalist societies; “the poor who serve no purpose”.
Emile Durkheim
Durkheim’s goal
was to recognize
sociology as an
academic
discipline.
He studied suicide
rates.
The key factor in
suicide is social
integration.
Those with weaker
ties are most likely
to commit suicide.
Seeing the General in the Particular
RATE OF DEATH BY SUICIDE
20
18
20
WHAT SOCIAL FORCES ARE
AT WORK HERE?
18
16
16
14
14
12
12
10
10
20.2
8
8
6
10.9
4
6.2
2
4
4.9
1.9
0
6
12.4
2
0
African Americans
Whites
By Race and Sex PER 100,000 PERSONS
Males
Both Sexes
Females
U.S. Bureau of the Census
 DURKHEIM’S STUDY OF SUICIDE

MORE LIKELY TO COMMIT
• MALE PROTESTANTS WHO WERE WEALTHY AND
UNMARRIED HAD HIGHER SUICIDE RATES
– PROTESTANTISM AND INDIVDUALISM

LESS LIKELY TO COMMIT
• MALE JEWS AND CATHOLICS WHO WERE POOR AND
MARRIED
– BEING CATHOLIC AND GROUP-ORIENTATION
 ONE OF THE BASIC FINDINGS: WHY?

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE GROUPS HAD
TO DO WITH “SOCIAL INTEGRATION”
• THOSE WITH STRONG SOCIAL TIES HAD LESS OF A
CHANCE OF COMMITING SUICIDE
High
Social Integration
Altruistic
Low
High
Anomic
Fatalistic
Y-axis
Low
Egoistic
Social Regulation
X-axis
A Normative Theory of Suicide: Durkheim
Copyright (c) 2003 by Allyn & Bacon
21
Emile Durkheim


Two types of social solidarity: mechanical
solidarity, present in traditional societies where
there is a simple division of labor and a communal
spirit; and organic solidarity, in which more modern
societies have a complex division of labor, and an
organizational interdependence; if one fails, all fail
in a modern business enterprise.
Anomie – the social condition in which norms and
expectations are in conflict, or absent, leaving one
adrift; the solution is to seek equilibrium and reestablish oneself into the stability of a culture and
it’s supportive belief systems.
Emile Durkheim


Durkheim focused upon large social
processes and institutions (structure), and
the way that these institutions and processes
operate to maintain social order
(functionalism).
Sui generis – Durkheim argued that society
was a “thing-in itself ” and had an existence
independent of the individuals who populate
it, just as a forest is something different and
unique from the mere collection of
individual trees.
DURKHEIM’S VIEWS ON SOCIETY
 SOCIETY

MORE THAN INDIVIDUALS
• SOCIETY HAS A LIFE OF ITS OWN - BEYOND OUR
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
 SOCIAL FACTS

ANY PATTERNS ROOTED IN SOCIETY
RATHER THAN THE EXPERIENCE OF
INDIVIDUALS
• SOCIETY HAS AN “OBJECTIVE EXISTENCE”
BEYOND OUR OWN SUBJECTIVE PERCEPTIONS
OF THE WORLD
– EXAMPLES: NORMS, VALUES, RELIGIOUS
BELIEFS, AND RITUALS
• POWER TO GUIDE OUR THOUGHTS/ACTIONS
EVER FEEL LIKE YOU’RE
A PUPPET ON A STRING?
EXAMINING SOCIETY
 THREE ASPECTS OF
DURKHEIMIAN THOUGHT:



SOCIETY HAS A STRUCTURE
AND ITS VARIOUS PARTS
EXISTS IN AN ORDERLY
RELATIONSHIP
SOCIETY HAS POWER THAT IS
DEMONSTRATED IN HOW IT
SHAPES OUR THOUGHTS AND
ACTIONS
SOCIETY HAS AN OBJECTIVE
EXISTENCE AS IT OPERATES
APART FORM ANY
INDIVIDUAL’S SUBJECTIVE
EXPERIENCE
Max Weber
Weber did not
believe the economy
was the force of
social change.
Religion was the
key.
The Protestant
ethic - the belief
that working hard
would please God.
Weber found that
Protestant beliefs
led to the growth of
Capitalism.
Religion was the
central factor in the
rise of Capitalism.





Max Weber
Identified rationalism as a key influence in the transition
from pre-industrial to modern society; overrationalization)
Stressed a value-free sociology by recognizing that we all
have a “world view” that must be suspended in order to see
as much as possible in human interaction.
Stressed the importance of power in both maintenance of,
and in changing, social institutions and society as we
perceive it.
Attributed power to other institutions as well as economic,
and also pointed out the interdependence of belief
systems and economic systems; The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism, 1904.
Ideal Type – identifying the role of abstract ideas as
heuristic tools for discussion; problem of reification.
THE HISTORICAL CHANGE FROM TRADITION
TO RATIONALITY AS THE DOMINANT MODE
OF HUMAN THOUGHT
 RATIONALISM, CALVINISM, AND
INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM


PREDESTINATION AND GOD’S FAVOR
FROM A RELIGIOUS TO A WORK ETHIC
 RATIONAL SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

DISTINCTIVE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS THAT
SEE TO MEETING THE DEMANDS OF A
GROWING, COMPLEX SOCIETY
The Role of Values in Social
Research
Weber claimed
sociology should
remain value free when values
should not affect
research.
Sociologists stress
replicationrepeating a study
by other
researchers to
compare results.
Weber
Verstehen and Social Facts
Verstehen- “to
grasp by insight.”
The best
interpreter of
human action is
someone who “has
been there.”
Social Factspatterns of
behavior that
characterize a
social group.
Each pattern
reflects some
condition of
society.
The Debate Over Basic Versus
Applied Sociology
Some sociologists believe their role is to
analyze society and publish results.
Others feel sociologists have an obligation
to make society a better place.
Somewhere between we have applied
sociology - the use of sociology to solve
problems.
SOCIAL PARADIGMS
 THEORY: An Explanation of the relationship
between specific facts.
PEOPLE HOLD DIFFERING
OPINIONS ABOUT THEIR
SOCIAL WORLD
WE ALL COME FROM
DIFFERENT SOCIAL
EXPERIENCES AND THEY
BIAS OUR ASSUMPTIONS
Theoretical Perspectives in
Sociology
Theory - a general
statement about
how some parts of
the world fit
together.
An explanation of
how two or more
facts are related to
one another.
Sociologists use
three main
theories:
1) symbolic
interaction
2) functional
analysis
3) conflict
theory
Symbolic Interactionism
Studies how people use symbols to
establish meaning, develop views of the
world, and communicate.
Our behaviors depend on the way we
define ourselves and others.
Symbolic Interactionists study face to face
interactions and relationships.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
SYMBOLIC INTERACTION IS A MICRO-ORIENTED PARADIGM,
WHICH MEANS IT IS EFFECTIVELY USED WHEN ATTEMPTING
TO UNDERSTAND SMALLER-SCALE SOCIAL PHENOMENA
 THE BASICS:

THE VIEW THAT SOCIETY IS THE PRODUCT
OF EVERYDAY INTERACTIONS
 PRINCIPLES:

SOCIETY IS A COMPLEX MOSAIC OF
UNDERSTANDING THAT EMERGES FROM
THE VERY PROCESS OF INTERACTING
• GOFFMAN’S DRAMATURGICAL ANALSYIS
• THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY
Charles Horton Cooley
“The Looking Glass Self”
The process through which we
imaginatively assume the reactions of
other people.
George Herbert Mead
Role taking allows us to learn the
values, norms, and behaviors
associated with those roles. This is
critical for the process of
socialization.
BURGER AND LUCKMANN’S IDEAS
 THINK OF LANGUAGE AS A CONSTANT
PROCESS THAT INVOLVES

EXTERNALIZATION
• CREATION OF INSTITUTIONS AND RULES THAT GOVERN
INTERACTION

OBJECTIFICATION
• PEOPLE BEGIN TO SEE SUCH ARRANGEMENTS WITHOUT
A HUMAN CONNECTION - REIFICATION

INTERNALIZATION
• WE INTERNALIZE A SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED REALITY
AS WE LEARN TO ADAPT TO SOCIETY ON OUR WAY TO
BECOMING A “NORMAL HUMAN”
 EXAMPLE: THE PROCESS BY WHICH WE
BLAME GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONS
FOR OUR PROBLEMS; WHAT ARE SOCIAL
INSTITUTIONS?
Sociological Nomenclature
 Ethnocentrism – the belief that our culture is is superior to others.
It also includes the concept of “world view”, meaning that we view
the world through a very distinct cultural lens. A perspective
often affects perception.
 “It is more comfortable for our eye to react to a particular object
by producing again an image it has often produced before than
by retaining what is new and different in an impression”
Friedrich Nietzche
 A multiculturalism approach, or cultural relativism, allows one to
observe the cultures of others without the interferences of bias
which is pervasive in most humans. We must not confuse
modernization and progress with good, and traditional with bad.
 Not all progress is good! Nor were the “good old days” bucolic.
Functional Analysis
The central idea is that society is a whole
unit, made up of interrelated parts that work
together.
Like an organism, if society is to function
smoothly, its parts must work together in
harmony.
When all parts fulfill their functions, society is
in a “normal” state of equilibrium.
FUNCTIONALISM
 THE BASICS




A MACRO-ORIENTED (LARGE-SCALE) PARADIGM
VIEWS SOCIETY AS A COMPLEX SYSTEM WITH MANY
INTERDEPENDENT PARTS
THE PARTS WORK TOGETHER TO PROMOTE SOCIAL
STABILITY AND ORDER
MAJOR CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM’S PARTS IS NOT REQUIRED
OR DESIRED; SYSTEM SEEKS TO MAINTAIN EQUILIBRIUM
 KEY ELEMENTS:

SOCIAL STRUCTURE
• REFERS TO RELATIVELY STABLE PATTERNS OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
FOUIND IN SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

SOCIAL FUNCTION
• REFERS TO THE CONSEQUENCES OF SOCIAL PATTERNS FOR
SOCIETY
• THE WORK OF ROBERT K. MERTON ON SOCIAL FUNCTION
Conflict Theory
States that society is composed of groups
engaged in fierce competition for scarce
resources.
People in positions of authority try to
enforce conformity (status quo), which, in
turn, creates resentment and resistance.
The result is a constant struggle. The
operations of power is central.
THE CONFLICT
PARADIGM
Levels of Analysis:
Macro and Micro
Functionalists and
Conflict theorists
focus on the
macro level - large
scale patterns of
society.
Symbolic
Interactionists
focus on the micro
level - social
interaction in small
scale patterns.
Types of Societies






Hunting & Gathering
Horticultural & Pastoral
Agrarian
Industrial
Postindustrial
Transitional
The Idea of Social
Transformation
Communal Societies – small-scale social units that
foster closeness and intimacy.Personalized
relationships extend throughout the community.
Tradition and norms are important.
Associational Societies – social relationships are
highly impersonalized. Characterized by acquaintances
and co-workers, rather than friends and family. Our
reasons to interact are based more upon self-interests
than community bonds.
Catalysts for Change






Human agency
Revolution and War
Cultural Processes
Population Changes
Natural Catastrophes
Technology
Trends Shaping the Future of
Sociology
One major trend
occurred post
World War II, when
it became obvious
that sociology
greatly impacted
education.
A second trend,
globalization- the
breaking down of
national
boundaries, will
force us to
recognize global
issues.