Sociological Perspective

Someone who can’t find a job is _____. Homelessness is the result of ______. Immigrants come here because of____.

The Nature of Sociology Sociology - The scientific study of social structure Social Structure - The patterned interaction of people in social relationships Group behavior vs.. Individual Behavior - does the individual’s characteristics matter in a group setting? Conformity - behavior that matches group expectations.

Perspective - A particular point of view Sociological Perspective - The view that looks at groups, not individuals

Sociological Imagination (C Sociological Imagination (C. Wright Mills)- The ability to see the link between society and self Looks at how social pressure affect behavior? Challenges conventional wisdom(ideas people assume to be true)

Origins of Sociology Auguste Comte - founder of sociology Positivism - knowledge should be derived from scientific observation Social Static - The study of social stability and order Social Dynamics - The study of social change

Harriet Martineau Pioneering feminist Saw a link between slavery and oppression of women Women’s lack of economic power keeps them dependent

Jane Addams Focused on imbalance of power among social classes Believed upper class exploited lower class W.E.B. DuBois Studied social structure of African Americans

Herbert Spencer Karl Marx Social Darwinism - Natural selection would ensure the survival of the fittest society Karl Marx Believed class conflict would lead to classless society

Emile Durkheim Mechanical solidarity - Social dependence based on widespread consensus of values and beliefs Organic solidarity - social interdependence based on a high degree of specialization roles

Max Weber Verstehen - Understanding social behavior by putting yourself in the place of others Rationalization - The mind-set emphasizing knowledge, reason, and planning

Theoretical Perspectives Functionalism – emphasizes the contributions of each part of a society – assumes societies tend to return to a state of stability Manifest – intended and recognized Latent – unintended and unrecognized Dysfunction – negative consequence of an aspect of society

Theoretical Perspectives 1. conflict perspective – emphasizes conflict, competition, change, and constraints(limits) within a society 2. symbolic interaction – focuses on the interaction among people based on mutually understood symbols a. Herbert Blummer – coined term and outlined 3 assumptions We learn the meaning of a symbol by how others react to it once we learn the meaning, we base our behavior on them we use the meaning of symbols to imagine how others will respond to our behavior