Sociology

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Sociology

• Definition The scientific study of society and
  social behavior.

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The Sociological Perspective

• Looks beyond specific events and individuals to
  identify social patterns and explain them.

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Example Terrorism

• Terrorism the attempt to utilize the fear or
  terror created by violence against a civilian
  population to achieve political ends.
• Two types of terrorism
• 1. Revolutionary Terrorism intended to upset the
  status quo and bring change.
• 2. State or repressive Terrorism done by the
  state or the power structure to preserve the
  status quo.

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Patterns associated with Middle East
revolutionary terrorism

• Age younger more than older people
• Sex males more than females
• Social class social marginals are more likely
• Religious ethnicity/ideology radicals more than
  moderates

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Seeing the general in the particular

• Focus on how the behavior of particular
  individuals may reflect larger social patterns.
• Basic insight we are largely the products of the
  groups we belong to.

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Seeing the strange in the familiar

• The sociological perspective involves detaching
  oneself from familiar ways of thinking in order
  to gain new insights.

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Ethnocentrism v. Cultural Relativism

• Ethnocentrism the tendency to judge other
  cultures from the values of ones own culture.
• Cultural relativism awareness that values differ
  across societies.

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Putting individuals in context of social forces
the case of suicide

• 19th Century View of Suicide
• Due to psychological pathology. They have sick
  minds.
• An isolated act of the deranged individual.
• Emile Durkheim suicide occurs in context of
  social forces too, not just psychological
  pathologies.

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Emile Durkheims Suicide Study (1897)

• Research method secondary data analysis of
  suicide records across Central Europe.
• Findings Some categories of people had higher
  suicide rates
• Males
• Protestants
• The wealthy
• Unmarried people

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What do these categories of people have in common?
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What do these categories of people have in common?

• They all have lower levels of social integration.
• They are less socially bonded to others. They
  have more autonomy or freedom, but they are less
  tied to others.

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Durkheim

• Two social forces are critical to understanding
  societal suicide rates
• 1. Level of social integration, or social
  solidarity. How integrated are people to societal
  norms and values, to their families, to their
  jobs, etc? How high are levels of solidarity?
• 2. Level of social regulation. This is an issue
  of how compelling or regulatory the societal
  norms, values and institutions are for members of
  society. Example a very authoritarian
  institution is over-regulatory while a very
  lenient institution is under-regulatory.

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Four types of Suicide (Durkheim)

• 1. Anomic Suicide (societal confusion or anomie)
• Not enough regulation. Lots of individualism.
• Too much social change.
• Due to confusion over societal norms and values
  and a low degree of regulation of individual
  behaviors. This person often senses that society
  is breaking down. Rapid social changes may cause
  the person to feel rootless, yet there are few
  constraints that keep them from destructive
  behaviors. This is associated with Western
  cultures.
• 2. Altruistic Suicide (honor bound)
• Too much integration.
• Not enough individualism.
• Due to excessively high levels of social
  solidarity, the suicide is encouraged by
  societal norms as a matter of honor. This is
  associated mostly with traditional conservative
  cultures.

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Four types of Suicide (Durkheim)

• 3. Egoistic Suicide (individualistic)
• Not enough integration.
• Too much individualism.
• Due to low levels of integration, this is related
  to high levels of individualism in which people
  may not sense their ties to societal
  institutions, societal norms, or to other people.
  The individual senses that life is meaningless.
  This is more common in Western cultures.
• 4. Fatalistic Suicide (oppression)
• Too much regulation. Not enough individualism.
• Not enough social change.
• Due to high levels of regulation that force
  obedience to the system even if it is against
  ones will. This person senses they are trapped
  by an oppressive social system and there is no
  way out. This is common in total institutions
  that are authoritarian (slavery, prisons,
  military).

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Durkheim

• The needs of society must be balanced with the
  needs of the individual.
• Western cultures were undergoing rapid social
  change due to industrialization and changing
  values.
• This brought increases in anomie and
  individualism.
• Anomic and Egoistic suicide rates were increasing
  in Europe.

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Note the negative correlation that Durkheim
observed decreased levels of social integration
and regulation are associated with increased
levels of anomic and egoistic suicide.
U.S. Suicide Rate by gender (1997)
Males
Females

• 18.7 per 100,000 people

• 4.4 per 100,000 people

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The social does not influence the private it
dwells within it Russell Jacoby (1982)The
social world is the breeding ground of our
internal psychological states.
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Sociology and Everyday Life

• Social marginality the state of being singled
  out as an outsider and excluded from social
  activity.
• Minority group people who have been singled out
  and marginalized, typically by race, sex, social
  class, age, religion, etc.
• The greater the marginality, the more likely the
  person or group is aware of how social patterns
  affect their lives.

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Importance of a global perspective

• Currently, about 80 of the worlds wealth goes
  to less than 20 of the worlds population.
• The globe is stratified into three categories
• 1. High income countries.
• Highly industrialized. About 18 of the worlds
  population.
• 2. Middle income countries.
• Moderately industrialized. About 54 of the
  population.
• 3. Low income countries.
• Not yet industrialized, lots of poverty. About
  27 of the population.

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Importance of a global perspective

• Macionis 4 insights related to global issues
• 1. Where we live on the globe shapes our lives.
• 2. Societies everywhere are increasingly
  interconnected.
• When powerful nations impose themselves upon
  weaker nations, they are likely to cause
  conflicts.
• Global stratification encourages global conflict
  and terrorism.
• 3. Many problems Americans face are far more
  serious elsewhere.
• 4. Thinking globally is a good way to learn about
  ourselves.

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The Origins of Sociology

• The rise of science (defined) the accumulation
  of knowledge through rational systematic
  procedures.
• Auguste Comte (1798-1857)
• Founder of the term sociology
• Scientist who applied a scientific approach to
  the study of society.
• Positivist believed objective truths can be
  uncovered via the scientific method. Total
  objectivity was possible.

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Three key historical changes

• 1. Industrial revolution.
• 2. Urbanization.
• 3. Values/political revolution.

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1. Industrial Revolution

• Before industrialization the economy was mainly
  agrarian, or farming-based. For most people, life
  centered on small-town rural life.
• The family was the central institution of life.
• There were few distinctions between work and
  family.
• Change was slow, tradition was important,
  community and family responsibilities were the
  dominant concern.
• Farms were relatively self-sufficient.

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Industrial Revolution, cont.

• Industrial revolution began in England 350 years
  ago.
• Scientific advances spurred technological
  innovations, bringing constant and rapid changes
  to social life.
• These technologies and factories increased
  productivity and living standards for many.
• People left their farms to work in these
  factories.
• Work and family became differentiated
  institutions, with different functions. This
  process is called institutional differentiation.
• The factories were increasingly large and
  rationalized (guided by formal rules, logical
  criteria, systematic).
• Guided by the values of industrial capitalism to
  maximize the private profits of the owner.
• Conditions were very harsh for workers.

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Industrialization, cont

• A new way of life was emerging
• Standard of living increased for most due to
  higher productivity. A middle class was emerging.
• Rapid changes brought progress a positive
  orientation to the future as bright thanks to new
  technologies- but were destabilizing.
• Small communities declined, along with
  traditional ways of life and traditional values.
• Mobility increased, with family size decreasing
  and most moving toward a city.

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2. Urbanization

• Mass urbanization was made possible by new
  technologies.
• Factories offered wages, driving people off the
  farm and its increasingly obsolete way of life.
• Property became privatized, forcing migration.
• Industrial urban life brought stimulation but it
  also brought increases in crime, pollution,
  homelessness, alienation, slums, overpopulation.
• Urban problems needed solutions hence,
  sociologists emerged to address these issues.

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3. Political/values changes

• Agrarian societies in Europe tended to be
  monarchies.
• The king was all-powerful.
• He claimed divine nobility.
• There was no separation of church and state.
• He demanded loyalty and obedience.
• The king owned all the land, forcing the masses
  to be serfs or peasants.
• The king and the aristocracy promoted a caste
  system of rigid stratification.
• People were ascribed their wealth and privileges.

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Political/values changes, cont

• Rise in individualism, a radical new value.
• Individualism a sense of personal autonomy or
  personal freedom.
• Political effect increased push for liberty and
  civil rights.
• Other revolutionary political/values changes
• From monarchy toward democracy (with separation
  of church and state)
• From slavery (indentured servitude) toward
  freedom
• From rigid status hierarchy toward equality
• all men are created equal a statement
  directed at the king.
• From illiterate toward literate (education)

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Modernity social patterns resulting from
industrialization, urbanization, and other recent
historical changes. Features include

• 1. Decline in small communities.
• 2. Expansion of individualism.
• 3. Increased diversity.
• 4. Orientation to the future (progress).
• 5. Increased rationalization.

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Were these rapid changes good or bad for
society? Theorists disagree.

• Auguste Comte rapid social changes threaten the
  social order and are bad for society.
• Karl Marx (1818-1883) rapid or revolutionary
  social changes are good if they bring about
  equality.
• The old monarchies created social conflicts
  between the haves and the have-nots they
  promoted oppression.

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Sociological Theory

• Three basic sociological theories or paradigms
• 1. Structural-functionalism.
• 2. Social conflict paradigm.
• 3. Symbolic interactionism.

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1. Structural-functionalism

• This model views society as a complex system
  whose parts function together to promote
  stability.
• Key features of structural functionalism
• 1. Social structure society consists of various
  components or structures stable patterns of
  social life, including norms, values,
  institutions, etc.
• 2. All structures of society have social
  functions they have purposes and consequences
  for the operation of the whole society.
• 3. Society and its structures are held together
  by shared norms and values.
• 4. The structures or components of society are
  interrelated and interdependent, such that a
  change in one structure produces effects on other
  components.

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Structural funcionalism, cont

• Noted functionalists Auguste Comte, Emile
  Durkheim, Herbert Spencer, Robert Merton.
• Herbert Spencer (English/American, 1820-1903) an
  early structural-functionalist.
• Applied a biological analogy to the study of
  society he likened society to an organism
  consisting of organs, tissue, muscles.
• Each organ is a structure with specific
  functions.
• Each organ is interrelated with other
  components.
• If a key organ stops functioning properly, the
  organism may die.
• Example The family is one of many interrelated
  institutions of society and has several key
  functions, like reproduction and primary
  socialization. A breakdown in the family
  threatens the survivability of society itself and
  produces effects on other institutions, which may
  adjust to try to compensate for this family
  breakdown.

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Structural-functionalism, cont

• Spencer and other early functionalists tended to
  assume that if a structure existed, it must have
  functions for the survivability of society it
  must be necessary.
• But was slavery a necessary institution? Is
  racism a necessary core value?
• Criticism led to modifications in the theory.
  Modern functionalists examine all structures for
  their functions (helpful or stabilizing effects)
  as well as their dysfunctions (harmful or
  destabilizing effects).

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Structural functionalism, cont

• Robert Merton (American, 1968) added new insights
  toward functionalism. He argued that any
  component of society can have many functions,
  some of which are hidden.
• 1. Manifest functions any consequences that are
  intended and recognized as helpful to society.
• 2. Latent functions any consequences that are
  unintended or unrecognized but which are
  nevertheless helpful to society.
• 3. Dysfunctions any consequences which are
  undesirable and harmful to society.

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Critique of functionalism

• As a macro theory, it tends to ignore micro
  social processes.
• Its emphasis on social stability and the
  survivability of the social order tends to bias
  it against forces of change/instability as bad
  forces. This may not always be true, as the
  American Revolution itself was born out of the
  force of change.
• It assumes society is held together by shared
  norms and values by consensus - but to what
  extent are values really shared by all of us?

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2. Conflict theory

• View of society a complex system in which
  different groups, with different levels of power,
  compete over scarce resources.
• 1. Society has valuable resources, like money,
  jobs, etc.
• 2. These resources are not equally distributed.
• 3. This creates tension and conflict over access
  to resources.
• 4. The powerful (elites) tend to use their power
  to hold on to the best resources, and this may
  involve oppressing others and/or persuading
  others to accept the dominant ideology that
  justifies the status quo and its pecking
  orders.
• 5. Inequality breeds social conflict, because not
  everyone accepts the dominant ideology of elites.
  
• 6. Conflict may be good for society if the
  outcome reduces inequality and creates a more
  fair and just society.

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Conflict theory, cont

• Heavily influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx
  (German, 1818-1883).
• An advocate of economic equality as a means
  toward social utopia in an age of early
  industrial capitalism and concentration of
  wealth.
• Marx believed capitalism created new conditions
  for oppression of the many by the few a virtual
  secular monarchy was emerging that threatened
  freedom.
• Marx advocated a workers revolution in
  capitalist factories to bring about an
  egalitarian system of democratic socialism.
• Capitalist factories were totalitarian and
  oppressive to the masses as long as they operated
  under private ownership.
• Modern conflict theorists are interested in any
  form of oppression, such as economic, racial,
  sexual, etc.

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Critique of Conflict Theory

• As a macro theory, it tends to ignore micro
  social processes.
• Whereas functionalists are often biased against
  social change, conflict theorists are often
  biased in favor of social change, as long as such
  change is seen to bring about more equality.
• It ignores the downside of rapid social changes.
• It assumes that egalitarianism is the best way to
  go, but is it always?
• It tends to assume that there is not much real
  consensus in society, which may or may not be
  true.

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3. Symbolic Interactionism

• This model examines how people construct
  subjective reality to pattern their everyday
  social interaction.
• 1. Focuses on micro-level social interaction.
• 2. Focuses on the process of ordinary everyday
  social interaction.
• 3. Everyday social interaction is made possible
  through shared symbols and meanings, such as
  speaking a common language.

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Interactionism, cont

• 4. We respond to each other on the basis of how
  we interpret each other, not necessarily who we
  really are.
• Subjective reality (what we perceive to be true),
  not necessarily objective reality (what is true
  independent of our perceptions), is crucial to
  understanding behavior.
• W. I. Thomas theorum a situation defined as real
  becomes real in its consequences.
• 5. Subjective reality is negotiated and learned
  via social interaction.

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Interactionism, cont

• Max Weber (German, 1864-1920) greatly influenced
  the emergence of this model.
• Weber emphasized the importance of verstehen the
  importance of empathy or understanding the
  subjective reality of others in order to
  understand their behavior.
• What meanings do people attach to their actions
  and to social interaction? Where did they learn
  these meanings? How close to objective reality
  are these subjective realities? How
  taken-for-granted are these subjective realities?

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Critique of Interactionism

• A common criticism is that their micro level
  approach leads to ignoring the macro forces that
  influence our lives.
• Good for a social-psychological approach to the
  study of society.

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Example of model application Analysis of
Education

• Functionalism
• The education system is one of the structural
  components of society that ensures a stable
  society.
• This system is interdependent with other
  institutions, particularly work and family.
• Functionalists adopt a macro analysis of
  education.
• What are the manifest functions of edu. system?
• What are the latent functions of the edu. system?
• What are some dysfunctions of the edu. system?

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Example of model application Analysis of
Education

• Conflict Theory
• This model adopts a critical perspective by
  examining conflicts within the education system,
  especially as they relate to the power structure
  and to industrial capitalism. It adopts a macro
  approach.
• Is there a school stratification system that
  dis-empowers particular people? Are students
  oppressed by administration rules?
• Do any categories of people (women, the poor,
  racial minorities, etc) get lower quality
  education due to forces of inequality?
• Who benefits and who pays in current education
  policies?
• How is the curriculum influenced by the agenda of
  industrial capitalists and other elites in
  society? Do U.S. schools propagandize the virtues
  of capitalism, competition, and other dominant
  values?

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Example of model application Analysis of
Education

• Symbolic Interactionism
• This model approaches education as a key source
  of subjective reality, in which students
  negotiate and learn to perceive the world in
  particular ways. Schools are agents of
  socialization. They teach particular symbols that
  convey particular messages.
• Unlike the other models, this model adopts a
  micro or social-psychological approach.
• What symbols and meanings are being conveyed in
  our education systems?
• What are the key statuses, roles and realities
  that schools promote?
• How are statuses and roles negotiated in the
  everyday interaction at school?
• How is everyday school life similar to a stage
  drama, with actors performing scripted roles,
  such as the role of student, teacher,
  administrator?

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End of Chapter 1