FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGICAL THOUGHT

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FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIOLOGICAL THOUGHT
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What is Sociology?

• Comte (1798-1857) Knowledge of society
• Browne (1992) Developing a critical
  understanding of society understanding social
  relations understanding our social world
• Scientific study of human behaviour in groups
• Giddens (2001) study of human social life,
  groups and societies

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What is Sociology?

• Generally therefore Sociology is seen as the
  study of human behaviour in society.
• There is ongoing debate as to whether Sociology
  can be defined as a science i.e. meeting the
  rigid requirements of science.

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What is society?

• Society is defined as one type of social
  organisation
• Society is a social organisation in which
  individuals interact with each other and in the
  process patterns of behaviour become acceptable
  and sustainable among them

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What is society?

• Society is a social system comprising
  interconnected and interrelated parts (sub
  systems)
• Some suggest that society is a social organism
  similar to a biological organism in that there is
  a whole made up of different yet interconnected
  parts all working for the benefit of the whole.

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What is society?

• Linton, quoted in Chinoy (1954) defined society
  as any group of people who have worked together
  long enough to get themselves organised and think
  of themselves as a social unit with well-defined
  limits.

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What are beliefs?

• Beliefs are systems of meaning around which
  culture is organised
• Beliefs are practical
• Statements that are held to be true
• Beliefs motivate behaviour
• Beliefs may integrate of divide societies

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What are values?

• Values are behaviours that the society considers
  valuable or important enough to hold dear
• Talcott Parsons defined values as behaviours that
  society considers desirable and worthwhile
• Values influence the social conduct of members of
  society

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What are norms?

• Norms are behaviours that govern social action
  and which the majority of the members of society
  regards as proper, right and expected.
• Norms lead to the standardisation of behaviour
  within any given society
• Norms are an important form of social control

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Norms

• There are four types of norms
• Mores
• Folkways
• Taboos
• Laws

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What are mores?

• Mores are norms that society considers vital for
  its survival what is right and wrong, moral and
  immoral
• Strongly sanctioned by society. Eg. Society
  insists on respect for human life. Therefore
  murder is harshly punished.

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What are folkways?

• Folkways are norms governing behaviour which the
  society considers acceptable but does not insist
  upon. Eg Using a spoon instead of a knife and
  fork at table picking ones nose in public
• Folkways are relatively weak norms

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What are taboos?

• Taboos are behaviours that society finds
  revolting. Eg Incest

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What are laws?

• Laws are norms that society considers
  sufficiently valuable that they are
  codified/formalised through the legislative
  process with specific formal sanctions/penalties
  to be imposed on those who break them. Eg
  Praedial larceny

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What are social institutions?

• Parsons Social Institutions are normative
  patterns which define what are felt to be proper,
  legitimate or expected modes of action of social
  relationships
• Eg. Family, religion, education, economy,
  political subsystem, legal subsystem, mass media.
  

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What is social structure?

• Social structure refers to the framework of a
  society
• The patterns around which society is organised

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What is culture?

• The culture of a society is the way of life of
  its members the collection of ideas and habits
  which they learn, share and transmit from
  generation to generation Ralph Linton (1954)

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What is culture?

• Culture is that complex whole which includes
  knowledge, art, belief, morals, law, custom and
  any other capabilities acquired by man as a
  member of society Tylor (1954)

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What is culture?

• Culture is learnt
• Culture is intangible
• Culture is shared
• Culture is transmitted through successive
  generations
• Culture is symbolic
• Culture changes over time and place

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What is a sub culture?

• A sub culture is the way of life of a segment of
  society that differs from that of the majority of
  the members of the society.
• Sub cultures are a reality in any given society
• Eg. The Rastafarians constitute a sub culture in
  Jamaican society. The seek to live in a manner
  that distinguishes them from the rest of the
  society. They have their own beliefs, values and
  norms.

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What is socialisation?

• Socialisation is the process by which the
  culture of a society are transmitted through to
  successive generations

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The agents of socialisation?

• The Agents of Socialisation are
• Family
• Peer Group
• School
• Religion/Church
• Mass Media

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Types of socialisation?

• Formal socialisation deliberate
• Informal socialisation unconscious
• Primary socialisation the individual and
  primary relations Family
• Secondary socialisation - the individual and
  secondary relations the school peer group
• Tertiary socialisation the work force and
  tertiary education

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Status

• Status refers to the social honour/social
  respect accorded to an individual in society.
• Ascribed status allocated at birth has nothing
  to do with the individual per se
• Achieved status allocated based on the
  performance/achievement of the individual

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Roles

• Roles are the behaviours, obligations and
  privileges associated with a status essentially
  defining the way an individual is expected to
  behave in given situations.
• Father, mother, teacher, preacher are some of the
  roles in society

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Roles

• Role Conflict refers to situations where an
  individual having more than one status in society
  finds him/herself performing different roles.
• Role Strain refers to situations where an
  individual comes under pressure because of the
  demands of different roles attached to one status

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Groups

• Groups are two or more persons linked by ties
  of mutual dependence and by a set of norms
  prescribing expected ways of behaving toward each
  other Study Guide
• Groups are individuals who share a sense of
  common identity and belonging

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Types of Groups

• Primary Group we - Family, close friends,
  peer group
• Secondary Group larger, anonymous, impersonal
• In-Group Members have strong sense of loyalty
• Out-Group A group to which one feels a sense
  of antagonism
• Reference Group used as a standard for
  comparison

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Community

• Community refers to a cluster of people
  individuals, homes, places of work.
• A set of primary and secondary groups responding
  to the basic needs of its members

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Gemeinschaft (Community)

• Ferdinand Tonnies defined Gemeinschaft as a
  society in which the majority of social
  relationships established are based on personal
  ties of friendship and kinship

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Gesellschaft (Association)

• Tonnies defined Gesellschaft as a society where
  the dominant social relationships are based on
  formal, impersonal and specialised

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Sociology and Psychology

• Psychology deals with the individual personality
  how the mind is shaped and works.
• It offers explanations of emotions, thoughts,
  beliefs and actions from the vantage point of the
  individual

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Sociology and Political Science

• Political science deals with the allocation of
  resources in society who gets what
• Political science relates to the power relations
  in society what kinds of power how it is
  distributed
• Sociology investigates the relationship between
  political structure and social life/behaviour

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Sociology and History

• History focuses on individual contributions and
  causes of events within specific social context
• Sociology seeks explanations for the way social
  life has changed through time

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Sociology and Economics

• Economics examines production, distribution,
  trade, consumption patterns and the social
  institutions that organise these in society
• Addresses wealth creation poverty
• Sociology examines the impact of the economy on
  social behaviour in society

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Sociology and Social Work

• Social Work focuses on micro issues how one
  individual relates to another
• Focuses on resolving social problems
  behavioural change social reform
• Sociology provides the information causes of
  behaviour that is used by social workers

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Sociology and Anthropology

• Anthropology focuses on simpler societies
  adopts a holistic view as opposed to sociologys
  focus on social institutions

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Sociology and Demography

• Demography refers to the study of population
  its movement trends etc
• Sociology utilises the data to determine the
  causes of the relationships established in the
  society

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Sociological Imagination

• C Wright Mills coined the concept of the
  Sociological Imagination
• Historical Sensibility reviewing what has gone
  before reviewing the changes in society through
  the ages

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Sociological Imagination

• Anthropological Insight reviewing our
  perception of life today as being superior to
  what obtained before
• Realisation of the diversity of human behaviour

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Sociological Imagination

• Critical of the present be conscious of
  alternative futures that are potentially open to
  us