Download Sociology - Beavercreek City Schools

Sociology
Social Sciences
• Anthropology – comparative study of past and
present cultures
• Psychology – Study of behavior and mental
processes
• Economics – Study of the production,
distribution, and consumption of goods
• Political Science – Study of the organization
and operation of governments
• History – Study of past events
What is Sociology?
• The study of
human society and
social behavior
from a group
perspective
What do sociologists look at?
• Focus on social
interaction
– How people relate to
one another and
influence others
behavior
• Examine social
phenomena
– Look at observable facts
or events that involve a
society
Sociological imagination
• Ability to see
the
connection
between the
larger world
and your
personal life
Development of Sociology
• 1800s rapid growth of
cities due to
industrialization
– Increase in crime
– Pollution
– Housing shortages
• Realized that society was
impacting the individual
• These social changes led
scholars to start analyzing
society’s effect on an
individual
Auguste Comte
• French philosopher
• Founder of sociology as
distinct subject
• Focus on social order and
social change
• Believed certain processes
called social statics held
society together
• Society changes through
definite processes called
social dynamics
• Uncover social statics and
dynamics though scientific
research and that
knowledge can be used to
reform society
Harriet Martineau
• British writer
• Wrote Society in America
– Went to US to look at
rather it lived up to its
promise of democracy
– Reported on marriage,
family, race relations,
education, and religion
• Believed scholars should
advocate change to solve
the problems they
studied
– Spoke out in favor of
women’s rights, religious
tolerance, and an end to
slavery
Herbert Spencer
• Believed society is a set of
interdependent parts that
work together to maintain
the system
• Considered social change
and unrest to be natural
occurrences as society
evolves toward stability and
perfection
• Social Darwinism – the
fittest societies would
survive over time leading to
a better society
– Believed the best aspects of a
society would survive over
time
Versus
Karl Marx
• Believed that the
structure of a society is
influenced by how its
economy is organized
• Believed that a society’s
economic system strongly
influenced its social
structure
• Emphasized that conflict
was the primary cause of
social change
– This thought led to Conflict
Theory
Karl Marx: Capitalists v. Workers
• Believed in 2 classes
• Capitalists own materials
and methods to produce
• Workers own the labor to
produce
• Imbalance in power
would lead to conflict and
end when workers
overthrow those in power
• Workers would build a
classless society where
citizens contribute based
on ability and rewarded
according to needs
Emile Durkheim
• Developed first university
sociology course at U. of
Bordeaux
• First to apply methods of
science to study societies
• Function – consequence that
an element of society
produces for the maintenance
of a social system
– Ex: interested in function of
religion in maintaining social
order
– Believed shared beliefs and
values were the glue that held
a society together
• Believed sociologists should
only study features in society
that are observable
Max Weber
• Interested in separate
groups within a society
rather than in society as a
whole
• Focused on the effect of
society on an individual
• Study what can be observed
as well as people’s thoughts
and feelings
• Developed the concept of
the ideal type
– The essential characteristics
of a feature of society
???Feelings????
??? Thoughts ???
Jane Addams
• Opened settlement
house in Chicago called
Hull House
• Offered welfare,
educational and
recreational services for
the poor
• Want to solve the
problems of the poor so
surveyed the poor to
gain a better
understanding
W.E.B. DuBois
• Studied societies by
mixing social analysis
with social reform
• Helped found NAACP
• Studied the significance
of race in American
society
Theoretical Perspectives
• Sociologists develop
theories to provide
guidance in their work
and help them interpret
their findings
• Develop theoretical
perspectives (school of
thought) which are a
general set of
assumptions about the
nature of things
• What perspective do
you take?
Functionalist Perspective
• View society as a set of
interrelated parts that work
together to produce stable
social systems
• People agree on what is best
for society and work together
to ensure social system runs
smoothly
• Positive functions: family,
religion, education, and the
economy
• Label some things dysfunction
because not everything runs
smoothly
– Dysfunction – negative
consequence an element has
for the stability of the social
system
– Example: crime
Function vs. Dysfunction
Functionalist:
manifest v. latent functions
• Manifest – intended
• Latent – unintended or
and recognized
unrecognized
consequence of some
consequence of an
element of society
element of society
• Example: automobile
• Example: automobile
provided speedy
helps people gain social
transportation from one
standing because it’s a
place to another
sign of wealth
Conflict Perspective
• Focus on the forces in
society that promote
competition and change
• Interested in how those
who possess more power
in society exercise control
over those with less
power
• Topics: decision making in
the family, relationships
among racial groups,
disputes between
workers and employers
• Competition over scarce
resources is the basis of
social conflict
• Group with control over
society’s resources
establishes rules and
procedures to protect
interests
– Leads to conflict as those
with less resources attempt
to gain resources
• Conflict theorists see
change as inevitable
• Feminist Perspective – part
of conflict perspective
because it focuses on area
of inequality – gender
– Believe society created
gender inequality
Interactionist Perspective
• Focuses on how individuals
interact with one another in
society
• Interested in the ways
individuals respond to one
another in everyday
situations
• Interested in meanings that
individuals attach to own
actions and actions of
others
• Used to study: mate
selection, child
development, and
relationships in small
groups
Interactionist: Symbols
• Interested in role of symbols
in daily life
– Ex: statue of liberty – US
handshake – greeting
• Symbolic interaction –
interaction among people
that takes place through the
use of symbols
– 3 elements: meaning,
language, and thought
– 1) respond to things based on
meaning
– 2) meanings come from
interaction through language
– 3) individual adjusts
meanings through thought
• Social interaction involves
individuals defining and
interpreting each others
actions