Essentials of Sociology, 7th Edition

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Chapter One Discovering Sociology Chapter Two
Doing Sociology
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Chapter Overview

• What is Sociology?
• The Origins of Sociology
• First Sociologists
• Sexism in Early Sociology

• Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology

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What is Sociology?

• The scientific study of human behavior, groups,
  and society
• Great tool for analyzing and understanding social
  life or the world
• Attempt to understand without judgment
• Examine how social contexts influence peoples
  lives
• Examines the link between what people do and the
  social setting that shapes behavior.
• Small group social settings
• Large group social settings

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Social Location
What is Sociology?

• Sociologists study ones social location to
  understand human behavior
• Jobs, Social Class, Race, Occupation, Sex,
  Religion and other demographics
• Social Location can shape our ideas of who we are
  and what we should attain in life

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The Sociological Perspective

• Stresses the social contexts in which people live
• Looks at how people are influenced by their
  society and how social forces affect human
  behavior
• The Sociological Imagination

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Development of Sociology

• Major social change in the 19th century (1800s)
• The Industrial Revolution challenged traditional
  ideas about social life
• Intellectual climate
• American and French Revolution
• The scientific method, which was used in the
  physical sciences, led to the birth of Sociology

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Auguste Comte Founder of Sociology

• Lived in France
• 1st Sociologist to advocate using positivism to
  studying social life
• Sociology a new science
• Coined the term Sociology (the study of
  society)
• Advocate of social reform

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Herbert Spencer Social Darwinism

• Lived in England
• Disagreed with Comte that Sociology should guide
  reform
• Coined the term Survival of the Fittest
• Societies are evolutionary
• Evolve from lower to higher forms
• Civilians (higher forms)
• Barbarians (lower forms)
• Over time societies improve and become advanced
• Social Reform interferes with natural process of
  selection
• Social Philosopher
• Did not conduct scientific studies
• Only developed ideas about society

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Karl Marx Class Conflict

• Human history
• Created by class conflict
• Economics is central force for social change
• Class Conflict
• Proletariat vs. the Bourgeoisie
• Marx predictions
• Social class revolution
• Classless society
• Marxism is not the same as Communism
• I am not a Communist

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Max Weber Religion

• Lived in Germany
• Disagreed with Marx
• Economics is not the central force for social
  change
• Religion central for social change in society
• The Protestant Ethic is tied to the rise of
  capitalism

• 10

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Protestant Ethic and the Rise of Capitalism

• Compared Catholic religion with Protestant
  religion to prove this theory
• Catholic religion encourages followers to hold
  onto traditional ways of life and believe
  everyone will go to heaven
• Protestant religion encourages followers to
  embrace change
• Religion was a key factor to the rise of
  capitalism

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Emile Durkheim Social Integration

• First to establish sociology as a separate
  academic discipline a social science
• Explained that Sociological ideas could be tested
  and published
• Theory Social forces shape human behavior
• Studied suicide rates in several European
  countries

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Rural Areas
Urban Areas

• City life
• Larger population
• Individualistic no time for social interaction
  or new friendships
• People work 12-16 hrs a day/ 6 to 7 days a week
• Isolated among family and friends
• Higher suicide rates

• Agricultural life
• Smaller population
• Close friendships and family ties
• Great social support and social control
• People followed rules of social conduct
• Lower suicide rates

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• Catholics and Protestants
• Married and unmarried
• Females and males
• SOCIAL FACTORS underlie suicide
• Social Integration
• The degree to which people are tied to their
  social group
• How closely linked people are to their social
  group (strong or weak bonds)

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Types of Suicide

• Egotistic
• Low social integration/weak bonds
• Individualistic
• Altruistic
• High social integration/strong bonds
• Willing to die to accomplish groups goals
• Anomic Suicide
• No integration
• Can not pursue societys goals

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Sexism in Early Sociology

• Attitudes of the Time
• 1800s Sex Roles Rigidly Defined
• Higher education reserved for men and the wealthy
• Women devoted themselves to the 4 Cs
• Church, cooking, children, and clothes
• Harriet Martineau
• Published Society in America Before Durkheim and
  Weber Were Born
• Known for translating Comtes works from French
  to English

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Jane Addams and Social Reform

• Came from a background of privilege
• Social reformer
• She worked tirelessly for social justice
• Co-founded the Hull House in 1889
• Campaigned for laws against child labor
• Leader of womens rights and peace movement of
  World War I
• Co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931

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W.E.B. Du Bois and Race Relations

• 1st African American to earn a doctorate at
  Harvard
• Grew up within a very racist society
• Every year between 1896 and 1914 he published a
  book on race relations between African Americans
  and Whites
• Souls of Black Folk 1903
• Philadelphia Negro
• He became active in social reform after years of
  collecting and interpreting data
• Founded the N.A.A.C.P

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Three Theoretical Perspectives

• Theory-a general statement about how some parts
  of the world fit together and how they work
• Symbolic Interactionist
• Functional Analysis
• Conflict Theory

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Applying Theories

• Each theoretical perspective looks at statistical
  data in a different light, i.e. marriage and
  divorce rates

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Symbolic Interactionism

• Symbolic Interactionists believe that individuals
  evaluate their own conduct by comparing
  themselves with others
• Symbolic Interactionists study
• How people interpret symbols
• How people interact one on one
• How people behave according to how they define
  themselves and others

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Functional Analysis

• The Functional Analysis perspective views society
  as a whole unit, made up of interrelated parts
  that work together.
• Functional Analysists study
• The structure of society
• How each part of society has certain functions
  that must be fulfilled
• What happens to society when dysfunctions occurb

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Conflict Theory

• Founded by Karl Marx
• Groups competing for scarce resources
• Groups competing for power and authority
• Conflict can be positive as it can bring about
  positive change

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Two Levels of Sociological Analysis

• Macro Level - Large Scale Patterns in Society
• Functional Analysis and Conflict Theory are
  components of Macroanalysis
• Micro Level-Social interactions on a small scale
• Symbolic Interactionism is a component of
  Microanalysis
• Which level of analysis is best?