1. The Sociological Perspective
Chapter 1
The Sociological Perspective

2. Sociology The scientific study of society and human behavior.
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3. Seeing the Broader Social Context
The sociological perspective stresses the social contexts in which individuals live. It examines how these contexts influence individual’s lives.
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4. Seeing the Broader Social Context
The sociological perspective seeks to address the following concerns:
How groups influence individuals
How individuals are influenced by their society
- People Who Share a Culture
- People Who Share a Territory
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5. Seeing the Broader Social Context
The sociological perspective stresses the importance of groups, and how people are influenced by their society.
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6. Sociological Imagination [Perspective]
An awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society.
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7. Sociological Imagination [Perspective]
Personal trouble versus public issue
Link between public and private
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8. Social Location - Corners in Life
Jobs
Income
Education
Gender
Age
Race/Ethnicity
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9. Origins of Sociology
The social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution, which changed the way people lived their lives
The political revolutions in America and France
The rise and success of the natural sciences
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10. European Founders
From left to right: Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber.
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11. Auguste Comte and Positivism
Applying the scientific method to social world
Comte began to wonder what holds society together
Coined the term “Sociology”
“Armchair Philosophy”
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12. Herbert Spencer - Social Darwinism
Second founder of sociology
Disagreed sharply with Comte’s idea that sociologists should guide social reform
Lower and higher forms of fociety
Coined phrase “survival of the fittest”
Spencer’s idea that it was wrong to help the poor offended many
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13. Karl Marx and Class Conflict
Engine of human history is class conflict
The bourgeoisie vs. the proletariat
Marxism not the same as communism
Marx thought that people should try to change society
Marx did not think of himself as a sociologist
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14. Durkheim and Social Integration
Got sociology recognized as separate discipline
Studied how social forces affect behavior
Identified “social integration” - degree to which people are tied to social group
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15. Max Weber and the Protestant Ethic
Religion and the origin of capitalism
Disagreed with Marx’s claim that economics is the central force in social change
Said that role belongs to religion
Favored social over material causes
Religion is central force in social shange
Wrote Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism ( )
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16. Sexism in Early Sociology
Attitudes of the Time
s sex roles rigidly defined
- Few people educated beyond basics
Harriet Martineau
- Published Society in America before
Durkheim and Weber were born
- Few people educated beyond basics
In Martineau’s day, women were suppose to devote themselves to the four Kirche, Küche, Kinder, und Kleider (church, cooking, children, and clothes).
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17. Racism at the Time: W.E.B Du Bois
B.A. from Fisk University
First African American to earn PHD at Harvard
It is difficult to grasp how racist society was at this time
Published a book each year from
Largely neglected by sociologists until recently
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18. Major U.S. Contributors
Influential U.S. Sociologists. From left to right, Jane Addams, C.W. Mills, and Talcott Parsons
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Influential U.S. Sociologists. From left to right, Jane Addams, C.W. Mills, and Talcott Parsons

19. Jane Addams: Sociologist and Social Reformer
Member of American Sociological Society (ASA) from start
Came from background of wealth and privilege
Co-Founded Hull House
Co-Founded American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
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20. Talcott Parsons and C. Wright Mills
Many early North American sociologists saw society as corrupt & in need of reform
Parsons developed objective analysis and models of society
Mills deplored theoretical abstractions in favor of social reform
Continuing tension in sociology
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