Download Sociology - WordPress.com

Sociology
BHS315111 TQA LEVEL 3
What is sociology?
Sociology is the study of society.
Psychology looks at the individual mind. Whereas Sociology
looks at the wider society, the group.
Sociology’s basic move is to argue that if you want to
understand why people do what they do, look at the groups
of which they are part.
1. Are poor people more likely to commit crimes than wealthy people?
2. Are all people born with the same intellectual ability?
3. Is romantic love part of every society?
4. Are women less likely to commit violent crimes than men?
5. Is academic achievement related to socio-economic background?
6. Is colour-blindness more common in men than in women?
7. During childhood, do girls increase in height faster than boys?
8. During what phase of the sleep cycle does dreaming occur?
9. Do human beings have a natural instinct to mate with the opposite sex?
10. Can animals think?
11. Does playing music to a baby before it is born increase
its chances of being musical?
12. Are people from ethnic backgrounds more likely to
be members of a social club?
Sociology…
The subject arose as an attempt to understand the far-reaching
changes in human societies over the past two to three centuries.
Recap
Social forces
How did we end up in this classroom?
Names – asymmetrical stigma (gender)
Suicide
Suicide
Sociology: Suicide rates are steady over time.
Therefore the rates are embedded in a structure and in certain groups. For
example, the different rates between rural/urban and men/women. There
are also differences in the rates between religious groups (e.g. protestant
and Jewish groups)
Psychology:
Cognitive (knowledge/beliefs) – He believed he was worthless.
Emotional (moods/feelings) – He felt depressed.
Motivational (drives/needs/goals) – He no longer wanted to live.
Emile Durkheim on Suicide
Egoistic suicide: ‘What should I live for?’
- Nothing outside of the self
- Meaninglessness
- Married people are less likely to commit suicide than single
people.
- Even widows/widowers are protected/less likely to commit
suicide (especially if they have children)
-Incorporated into a society larger than themselves.
Emile Durkheim on Suicide
Anomic suicide (from French word ‘anomie’)
- Tends to exist in periods when there is rapid social
change/transformation (e.g. economic growth or downturn)
-Before the modern period, suicide was very rare.
- This suicide occurs when there are no limits to aspirations.
(e.g. celebrities, athletes, musicians)
Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
• Gave Sociology its name (‘social’ and ‘ology’…meaning ‘study of’)
• Human societies are natural systems whose order and progress can
be studied through scientific methodology.
C Wright Mills (1916-1962)
Wrote ‘The Sociological Imagination’ (1959)
Only by understanding social forces (i.e. having a
sociological imagination) can we understand where we
and why we are there.
We are shaped by history, biography AND social
structures.
Power belongs to the individual
who is able to grasp the external
forces that govern his life and his
psychological development, to
make reflections about them and
to make rational decisions in order
to guide the course of his life.
The Sociological Imagination
The sociological imagination
allows us to locate ourselves
within a social context.
We come to know our own
“chances” in life through
becoming aware of others in the
same circumstances.
Sociological Imagination
Private problems
Example: ‘The working poor’
Public issues
A call for political action
C Wright Mills takes his theory a step further:
The sociological imagination allows us to have a dignified life AND a
better world.
Understand (through data collection, observation etc.) so that you can
CHANGE the world.
A sociologist that is following the sociological
imagination is engaged.
Sociology is too important to be left to just the
sociologists; particularly in a democratic society.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful
Committed citizens can change the world:
Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead
Criticism
- Sociology should not be political, particularly in its
approach to research.
- We should be objective
We are constantly being shaped by the society
(social environment) in which we exist.
What is a ‘society’?
A society is a large social grouping that shares the same geographical
territory and is subject to the same political authority and cultural
expectations.
Culture
A shared way of life
Norms, values and beliefs
(Also tends to include language, roles,
knowledge and skills)
Material and non-material
Tall and athletic: Ostrich plumes and pompoms
emphasise height
Narrow face: Decorated with red ochre
Wide eyes: Black eyeliner made from charred
egret bones
Facial symmetry: Enhanced with black, yellow
and white patterns
Aquiline nose: White clay arrow stripe to look
more streamlined
Long braids and cowrie shells: Symbolise
fertility and wealth
White and regular teeth: Bared and
emphasised with black lipstick
Good dancer: Beaded necklaces and bodices
jangle against chest in time to the beat
Values
General beliefs about what is right or wrong, and the
important standards which are worth maintaining and
achieving in any society. (Browne, 2005, p. 460)
Values
List:
1) The groups you are part of…
2) The values shared by members of those groups
3) Three values that you have
How do you come to know these values?
Norms
More specific than values.
The social rules of a society.
Define and guide normal behaviour.
The urinal
Nathan For You
Your task:
Write down some of the
norms that Nathan fails
to follow in this episode.
Objective truth vs. Social truth
Objective truth – Does not matter whether you get an
EA/Dux of Sociology
Social truth – Does matter in particular group (e.g. your
family)
Your social world defines what is enough and sets your
aspirations…
How do we know how to behave in
society?
Socialisation:
A lifelong process, starting from birth, which involves
learning how to become part of society. During this
process we learn what is socially acceptable within our
culture and begin to form our identities.
Agents of Socialisation
Family – primary socialisation
School – secondary socialisation
Peers
Work - tertiary socialisation
Media