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The Sociological Perspective
and
Culture
By:
Joyce Guianan
and
Ismael N. Lopez Jr.
Sociology
As defined is the scientific study of
human behavior and the social
context in which it occurs.
Other social sciences
• Anthropology- study of human culture as
basis for society
• Psychology- analyzes individual behavior
• Political Science- study of politics and
organization of government
• Social Work- applied field that draws the
lessons of all the social sciences to serve
people in need.
• and others...
Sociological Perspective
-seeing the world in a different light.
-allows us to see the societal patterns
that influence individual and group
life.
C. Wright Mills
-proponent
of
imagination”
the
“sociological
SOCIAL IMAGINATION
-is the ability to identify the societal
patterns that influence individual and
group life.
C. Wright Mills also distinguished
between
TROUBLES – privately felt problems that
develop from events or emotions in an
individual’s life and
ISSUES – problems that affect large
numbers of people and based in the
history and institutional arrangements
of society.
For example, Mr. Cruz was fired from
his job because he repeatedly
overslept or came to work late. What
kind of problem is this?
Human Trafficking is an example of
what kind of problem?
Sociology is an empirical discipline
where rigorous methods of research
that are used to investigate everyday
life.
Key Sociological Concepts
• Social Structure-organized pattern of
social
relationships
and
social
institutions that together institute
society.
• Social
Institutions-are
established,
organized systems of social behavior
with particular, recognized purposes.
• Sociologists do not view society as
fixed – so they are interested in the
process of Social Change
• Social Interaction-behavior between
two or more people.
Sociological Theory
Functionalism- investigates how each
part of society contributes to the
stability of the whole system.
a. Talcott Parsons identified the four
principal functions of society namely
adaptation, goal attainment,
integration and latency.
b. Robert Merton distinguished the
latent functions-social practices can
have unintended consequences that
are neither immediately apparent from
manifest functions-intended goals of
social behavior.
Conflict Theory-emphasizes the role of
coercion in producing social order,
noting that power is the ability to
influence and control others.
Symbolic Interaction Theory views social
interaction as the basis of society
CULTURE
The complex system of meaning and
behavior that defines the way of life
for a given group of people, includes
customs, habits, dress, beliefs, values,
knowledge, art, morals, language and
laws.
Characteristics of Culture
1. Culture
is
shared.
Culture
is
collectively experienced and agreed
upon.
2. Culture is learned.
3. Culture is taken for granted.
4. Culture is symbolic.
5. Culture varies across time and place.
Elements of culture
• Language- a set of interrelated
symbols and rules that provides a
complex communication system.
• Norms- are the specific cultural
expectations for how to behave in
certain situations.
• Folkwaysgeneral
standards
of
behavior adhered by a group.
• Mores- the strict norms that control
moral and ethical behavior which are
often upheld by laws.
• Social sanctions- are mechanisms of
social control that enforce norms may
be imposed on people who violate
norms.
• Ethnomethodology- a technique for
studying human interaction that involves
deliberately disrupting social norms and
observing how individuals respond.
• Beliefs- are shared ideas held collectively
by people within a given culture.
• Values- are the abstract standards in a
society or group that define ideal
principles.
Cultural Diversity
a. Dominant culture- culture of the most
powerful in society.
b. Subcultures- cultures of groups whose
values, norms, and behavior are
somewhat different from those of
dominant culture.
c. Countercultures- are subcultures that
reject the dominant cultural values.
d. Ethnocentrism- is the habit of seeing
things only from the perspective of
one’s own group.
e. Global Culture- the diffusion of a
single culture throughout the world.
Popular Culture
Includes the beliefs, practices, and objects
that are part of daily tradition, including massproduced, mass-marketed media that are
shared by large audiences.
Cultural Change
Culture lag- refers to the delay in making
cultural adjustments to changing
social conditions.
Culture Shock- when culture changes
rapidly, or someone is suddenly thrust
into a new cultural situation.