Perspectives Sociologists analyze societies at different levels and from different perspectives. From concrete interpretations to sweeping generalizations of society and social behavior, sociologists study everything from specific events (the micro level of analysis of small social patterns) to the “big picture” (the macro level of analysis of large social patterns

Sociology Is the scientific study of human groups and social behavior. Sociologists focus primarily on human interactions, including how social relationships influence people's attitudes and how societies form and change. Sociologists look at events from a holistic, or multidimensional, perspective. Social forces are powerful, and social groups are more than simply the sum of their parts. Social groups have characteristics that come about only when individuals interact

FUNCTIONALISM Emphasizes harmony, consensus and cooperation Views society as a machine, idea of interrelated parts that all work together—Looks at positive outcomes. A) Dysfunction- a negative consequence of society. B) Manifest functions-intended recognized consequence C) Latent function- unintended unrecognized consequence.

Auguste Comte (French)( ) Coined the term “sociology” Believed society could be studied like any other science Key concepts: positivism, sociology the “queen” of sciences, social engineering Functionalist perspective

Herbert Spencer (English) ( ) Coined the term “survival of the fittest” in reference to human social arrangements (Social Darwinism) Advocated against social reform efforts for poor people because it disrupts the natural selection process of evolution Functionalist Perspective

Émile Durkheim (French) ( ) Founded sociology as an academic discipline Famous for his study on suicides (1897) Use of statistics in sociology Key concepts: social facts, social structure social solidarity, collective conscience, mechanical and organic solidarity, anomie Functionalist Perspective

CONFLICT PERPSECTIVE Emphasizes competition over the control of scarce resources (wealth, power, prestige). Looks at conflict, it is inevitable and can be beneficial (leads to social change) Looks at the negative. Sociologists’ job is to identify competing interests and show how those in power maintain their position. How the elite control the poor and weak.

Karl Marx (German) ( ) Founder of political / economic theory of socialism (communism) Considered the founder of the Conflict Perspective Wrote the Communist Manifesto and co wrote Das Kapital (with Friedrich Engels) Key concepts: proletariat, bourgeoisie, capitalists, social class

INTERACTIONISTS (SYMBOLIC) INTERACTIONISM The structure of society is determined through social interaction----language/symbols. Social life depends on how actors interpret their roles and what audiences they play to. Individuals instinctively define and interpret their interactions which influences their behavior Sociologists’ job: observe and record the social situations in detail. Pays attention to unspoken signs/meanings

Max Weber (German) ( ) Believed that sociologist could never capture the reality of society but should focus on ideal types that best capture the essential features of aspects of social reality Key concepts: bureaucracy, verstehen, rationalization of the modern world, people are becoming prisoners of new technology, loss of individuality Interactionalist Perspective

SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES Can you identify the Sociological perspectives on the next few slides? 1) Conflict Perspective 2) Interactionist Perspective 3) Functionalist Perspective

The system is stacked against us. The rich people make the rules, and they make rules that keep their money while we have to pay. Ordinary working people don’t have a chance; the rich just get richer and the poor get poorer.”

Conflict

Individuals who constantly interpret the world around them. For Example, musicians look at black dots and lines on a paper but this means more than mere marks on the page; they refer to notes organized in such a way as to make musical sense.

Interactionist

The government, or state, provides education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes on which the state depends to keep itself running. That is, the family is dependent upon the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so that they can raise and support their own families. In the process, the children become law-abiding, taxpaying citizens, who in turn support the state.

Functionalist

“The problem is that people have such low expectations. They believe that they will never have a chance to amount to anything, so they don’t even try. They give up, drop out of school, and raise their children with the same sense of hopelessness. Change those perceptions and you begin to change society.”

Functionalist

C. Wright Mills Sociological Imagination is the ability to see a connection between the larger world and your personal life. Forest Tree All sociologists must use this!

C. Wright Mills (American) ( ) Taught at Columbia University Marxist, Functionalist Perspective Key concepts: power elite, radical social change, social injustices, applied sociology, the “sociological imagination”

How Sociological Imagination works: A local 18 year old senior at a neighboring high school was involved in a car accident that resulted in the death of a married young mother of three children. The teen survived the accident. The family of the young mother also lived in the same school district and only one street over from the teen driver. The teen was arrested for driving under the influence and charged with vehicular homicide.

How could this action affect each student at the school that the teen went to? How could this action affect specific groups? How could this affect society at large?