An introduction to Sociology?

What is Sociology?  Sociology comes from two words - ‘SOCIO’ referring to society and ‘-LOGY’ meaning science.  Therefore sociology literally means the SCIENCE OF SOCIETY. To be more specific, SOCIOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF PEOPLE IN SOCIETY.  OUR LIVES ARE SHARED WITH OTHERS AND SHAPED BY THE SOCIETY IN WHICH WE LIVE.

Getting you thinking How might your life have been different if you were: How might your life have been different if you were:  Born 200 years ago  Born into an wealthy aristocratic family  Born in a less developed country such as Ghana.

This should have demonstrated to you that society effects who we are, how we think, and our life chances

What is culture?  We are all born into and live in a culture. A culture is a whole way of life of a group of people.  It includes behaviour that we have learned, that is shared ways of doing things. These are different in different cultures. For example, in some cultures it is normal to eat with your hands, in others with chopsticks and yet in others with a knife and fork.  Having a culture makes us fully human- this can be seen from the examples of children who have not belonged to a culture.

 One famous example of feral children is that of two infant girls who were lost in the jungle in India, in about The girls had been found living with wolves, in a cave-like den. The older girl was 6 or 7 years old and the other, who died a year later, perhaps a year younger.  When captured, the girls were like animals. They were naked and ran in a sort of stooped crouch.. They did not display any characteristically human qualities. They did not know how to make a shelter. They did not walk upright. They did not laugh. They did not sing. They did not show any affection or attraction or curiosity towards humans. But what is especially striking is that the girls used no language. They used no noises or gestures to communicate. They preferred to eat with the dogs in the compound, who seemed to accept them. They ate by pushing their faces into the food, the way dogs do, and they drank by lapping from a bowl. Feral children

Getting you thinking  So, a culture is the whole set of beliefs and guidelines as to how people ought to behave in any society.  It includes the way we dress, what we eat, the language we speak, our leisure interests, our religion etc..The majority of people in any society regard the culture as natural and normal. Think about British culture, what are the different elements of our culture Think about British culture, what are the different elements of our culture E.g. we speak English

 There is no such thing as ‘normal’ behaviour or ‘abnormal’ behaviour for human beings.  Whenever you study another society rather than thinking how weird/ silly / strange their behaviour is, remember that to the members of that society, it is as sensible and normal as our own seems to us.

Norms  NORMS are the normal, expected patterns of behaviour which we ought to follow in everyday life if we are to be considered ‘normal’.

Getting you thinking For example, ‘norms’ are very important in a classroom.  What norms have you followed today?  How did you learn these norms? What norms apply in the following situations?  The waiting room of a doctor’s surgery  At a party with your teenage friends  In a lift full of people

Values  Values are beliefs about what is right and wrong. They stress how we should behave. For example, because we hold a belief that human life is sacred, a shared value is that it’s wrong to hurt people. Therefore we have laws against fighting and murder.

Getting you thinking Another shared value in Britain is that people have the right to privacy and personal space. Another shared value in Britain is that people have the right to privacy and personal space.  How do you think this value affects the way we behave, that is the norms in our society?

How do we learn to fit in?  Socialisation is the learning of norms and values. It is a lifelong process that can be seen to have two stages:  Primary socialisation is the learning of norms and values that takes place in early life, usually within the family by parents. For example, parents teach their children how to eat with a knife and fork, how to use a toilet.

Getting you thinking  Secondary socialisation is the later stage of learning norms and values. There are a number of institutions that carry out secondary socialisation. These are called the agencies of socialisation. For example:  Education- think about schools, how are students taught to fit into society and be productive workers?