Developing A Sociological Perspective

1
Chapter 1

• Developing A Sociological Perspective

2
Chapter Outline

• What is Sociology?
• The Sociological Imagination
• Significance of Diversity
• The Development of Sociology
• Theoretical Frameworks in Sociology

3
What Is Sociology?

• Study of human behavior viewed in society.
• A scientific way of thinking about society and
  its influence on human groups.
• Topics include social behavior and social change.

4
Disciplines of Sociology

• Psychology
• Anthropology
• Political Science
• Economics
• Social Work

5
Debunking

• Looking at behind-the-scenes patterns and
  processes that shape behavior.
• Questioning actions and ideas that are usually
  taken for granted.
• Acting as an outsider within.

6
Diversity

• People are shaped by social context.
• The United States is comprised of people from all
  nations and races.
• In 1900, 1 in 8 Americans was not White.
• Today, racial and ethnic minority groups,
  including African Americans, Latinos, American
  Indians, and Asian Americans, are ¼ of the U.S.
  population.

7
Sociology and the Enlightenment

• Characterized by faith in the ability of human
  reason to solve societys problems.
• Belief that natural laws and processes in society
  could be discovered and used for the general good.

8
Influence of the Enlightenment

• Positivists believed that society could be
  studied using the techniques of the natural
  sciences.
• Humanitarianism is based on the belief that human
  reason can successfully direct social change for
  the betterment of society.

9
Development of Sociology in Europe

• Comte coined the term sociology and elaborated
  the positivist basis of sociology.
• Tocqueville described the U.S. in the
  sociological treatise, Democracy in America.
• Martineau wrote one of the first methods books on
  participant observation.

10
Classical Sociological Theory

• Durkheim identified social facts as a pattern of
  behavior that can be explained external to
  individuals.
• Marx devoted his work to explaining how
  capitalism shaped society.
• Weber developed the concept of verstehen, seeing
  things from others point of view.

11
The Developmentof American Sociology

• American sociologists believed sociology could be
  used to solve social problems.
• The Chicago School was characterized by concern
  with the relationship of individual to society
  and the use of society as a human laboratory.

12
Theoretical Frameworks in Society

• Functionalism - emphasizes order and views
  disorganization as the impetus for change.
• Conflict theory - emphasizes the role of coercion
  and power in producing social order.
• Symbolic interaction -considers social
  interaction to be the place where society
  exists.