1. Sociological Perspective

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

3. 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.

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

5. 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)

7. 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

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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

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

13. 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

14. 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