Sociology

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Sociology

• An Introduction

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• Key terms- sociology, culture, socialization,
  social structure, conflict perspective,
  functionalist perspective, symbolic interaction
  perspective.

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What is sociology?

• Sociology is one of the seven social sciences-
  history, anthropology, geography, economics,
  psychology, archeology, political science
• Sociology is the study of cultures, social
  structure and their effects and influence on
  behavior
• Need to use sociological imagination to look
  beyond the individual as the cause for success
  and failure.
• Need to see how society influences outcomes
• Look at suicide

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Culture

• Culture is the knowledge, values, customs, and
  physical values shared by a society
• Family
• Marriage
• Issues such as race, gender and social control

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Socialization

• Socialization is the cultural process of learning
  to participate in life
• What characteristics are influenced by nature
  (heredity) or nurture (contact with others)?

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Social Structure

• Social Structure defines limits on our behavior,
  roles, social status, social institutions.
• Location on the social structure influences
  attitudes, perceptions and behavior
• People are divided by social class and social
  groups.

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Sociological Perspectives

• Conflict Perspective- emphasis is on competition,
  change and constraint within society
• Focus on social classes and differences in
  wealth, power and prestige
• Upper classes control societys wealth and
  resources and exploit lower classes
• Once a group has power they want to keep it and
  create advantages for themselves
• Major conflict theorists- Karl Marx, W.E.B. Du
  Bois, John Bellamy Foster
• Criticisms
• Conflict is not always a bad thing, competition
  can create excellence

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Sociological Perspectives

• When people control try to enforce authority
  those not in control will resist. The result is a
  constant struggle over who has authority
• Lewis Coser looked at people in close
  relationships and described how these
  relationships divide responsibility and
  privileges. When the relationship changes
  conflicts will occur

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Sociological Perspectives

• Symbolic Interaction
• How communication influences our interactions
• Root of society is from symbols
• Symbols help develop our worldview
• Vary from culture to culture

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• Symbolic interactionists see the self as a
  symbol- it consists of the ideas and symbols of
  who we are.
• Symbols tell us
• Who we are related to and how to behave
• To tell time and how to coordinate our actions
  with other people
• Build buildings, make movies and music
• Without symbols no government, no hospitals, no
  religion

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Sociological Perspectives

• Functionalism
• The central idea of this perspective is that
  society is made up of interrelated parts that
  make up the whole.
• Early sociologists saw society as a living
  organism that, in order to function smoothly all
  the parts had to work in harmony
• Functionalists look at the structure of society-
  how the parts fit together to make the whole
• They also investigate the function- what each
  part does and how it contributes to society
• Criticisms
• Does not take into account wealth and power
• Thinks that social change occurs slowly

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Functional Analysis

• Sociologist Robert Merton dismissed the organic
  theory but kept the essence of functionalism-
  society as a whole composed of parts working
  together
• He used the term function to describe the
  beneficial aspects of society
• Dysfunctions are consequences that harm society.
• Functions can either be manifest or latent
• Manifest functions are intended to help the
  system
• Latent functions are unintended consequences of
  manifest functions
• Latent dysfunctions are consequences that harm
  the social system

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Macro vs. Micro Perspectives
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Other Sociological Perspectives

• Feminist Theory- How society is ordered around
  gender inequality, oppression
• Exchange theory- Experiences consist of rewards
  and costs that lead to our choice of social
  interaction
• Environmental theory- how societies adjust as
  resources and the environment change

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Sociology vs. Common Sense

• All questions are true/false
• More U.S. students are shot in school today than
  fifteen years ago.
• The earnings of U.S. women have caught up with
  men.
• When faced with natural disasters such as floods
  or earthquakes, people panic, and social
  organization disintegrates

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• 4. Most rapists are mentally ill.
• 5. Most people on welfare are lazy and looking
  for a handout. They could work if they wanted to.
• 6. Compared with women, men maintain more eye
  contact in face to face conversations

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• 7. Couples that live together before marriage are
  more satisfied than couples that do not live
  together before marriage.
• 8. Most husbands that get laid off from work take
  up the slack and increase the amount of work they
  do around the house.
• 9. Students in Japan are under such intense
  pressure to do well in school their suicide rate
  is double that of U.S. high school students.

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Assignment

• Of the three theoretical perspectives, which one
  do you think is the most effective in studying
  sociology? Why?
• You must answer both parts of the question to
  receive full credit.