The Sociological Perspective

SociologyThe scientific study of human organization

and social interactions. Goal is to understand social situations and

look for repeating patterns in society. Children abductions in the U.S.Sexual predators on the internet

Focus is on the group, not the individual. Issues of reporting personal experiences….

Applied SociologyApplying sociology to solving real-world

problems:How does building a dam affect the

residents of the area?How does jury makeup affect the

outcome of a case?How do relationships among

administrators, doctors, nurses, and patients affect hospital care?

Social Science Disciplines

Sociology Vs. Other Disciplines

Sociologist study groups and institutions within large, modern, industrial, societies using research methods that enable them rather quickly to gather specific information about large numbers of people

Cultural Anthropologist immerse themselves in another society for a long time, trying to learn as much as possible about that society and the relationships among it.

Sociologist looks at patterns of behavior Psychologist looks at motivations, perceptions, cognition, creativity, mental disorders, and personality.

Sociologist study social factors that influence a person’s economic decision

Economist studies price availability factors

Sociologist looks at historical events within their social contexts to discover why things happened and more important, to assess what their social significance was and is. Sociology focus on the present

History looks at past events to attempt to learn what happened, when it happened, and why it happened

Sociologist focuses on how political system affects other institutions on society

Political Science devotes more attention to the forces that shape political systems theories for understanding these forces.

Sociology is to help understand why problems exist

Social work is to help people solve problems

The Development of SociologyEmerged as a separate field of study in

Europe during the 19th century. During this period the social order was

shaken by the industrial revolution and by the American and French revolutions.

Auguste Comte (1798–1857)Identified two major areas for sociology:Social statics - study of how social

institutions are interrelated, focusing on order, stability, and harmony.

Social dynamics - study of how societies develop and change over time.

Comte had a determinist view of societyDeterminism in the philosophical sense implies

that all events are dependent on precedent events – free will?

Harriet Martineau (1802–1876)Published Theory and Practice of Society in

America, in 1837.The book analyzed the customs and

lifestyles of the 19th century United States.Her travels through the United States

observing prisons, mental hospitals, factories and family gatherings formed the basis for the book.Scholars should use their research to

bring social reform and benefit societySlavery in America?

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…

Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)

Believed society was similar to a living organism.

Just as organs of the body make specialized contributions, the various segments of society are interdependent.

A proponent of Social Darwinism.

Social DarwinismApplied Charles Darwin’s notion of “survival

of the fittest” to society.Lack of success was viewed as an individual

failing unrelated to barriers created by society.

To help the poor and needy was to intervene in a natural evolutionary process.

Can you think of some other examples?

Sociology in the 19th CenturyThree scholars shaped sociology into a

relatively coherent discipline:Karl MarxÉmile DurkheimMax Weber

Their ideas were greatly shaped by industrialization, capitalism, and socio-political revolutions

Karl Marx (1818–1883)

Believed the history of human societies could be seen as the history of class conflict between:The bourgeoisie, who own and control the

means of production.The proletariat, who make up the mass of

workers.A critique of capitalism

Karl Marx (1818–1883)Marx lived shortly after the French and

American revolutionsHe was greatly influenced by what he

observed to be conflict as an engine of change

Historical development

Émile Durkheim (1858–1917)Believed individuals were the products of

their social environment.Society shapes people in every possible way.Showed how a personal act, suicide, is

patterned by social factors.Differences in suicide according to religious

practices

Durkheim’s Three Types of SuicideEgoistic suicide - derives from loneliness

and a commitment to personal beliefs over group values.

Altruistic suicide - the individual is willing to die for the sake of the community.

Anomic suicide - results from feeling disconnected from society’s values.

Suicide in the United StatesSocial factors:

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds.

Older adults account for 20% of suicide deaths, but only 13% of the overall U.S. population.

Suicide rates for Native Americans are 1.5 times the national rates.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_sui_rat_mal-health-suicide-rate-males

Max Weber (1846 – 1920)Ideology can influence the economic system

(material conditions)Ideology as means to explain the

development of capitalismRational man

Minimize risk – maximize profitsBureaucracy

Robert MertonInfluential proponent of the functionalist

theory.Two forms of social functionsManifest

The intended and recognized consequences of those process Going to college to obtain knowledge

LatentUnintended or not readily recognized

consequences of such processes New opportunities Finding lasting friendships

Contemporary SociologyWhat is a theory?

A theory is a systematic explanation for the observations related to a particular aspect of life.

Three Major Sociological

Theories

Functionalist Conflict Symbolic Interactionist

FunctionalismViews society as a system of highly interrelated

structures or parts that function or operate together harmoniously

ConflictPeople are basic struggling battling over

something

Symbolic interactionismConcerned with the meaning that people place

on their own and one another’s behavior.

MaterialismHuman consciousness rests on certain

material conditions without which it would not exist

In other words, ideas reflect the economic, physical, or environmental conditions!Early communitiesLord of the flies

The ideas of any epoch are the ideas of a ruling class because they control the means of mental production