2. Sociology 231 The Sociological Perspective

3. 2/22 Day One

4. 3/22 What Is Sociology? n It is one of the Social Sciences along with: –Psychology, Anthropology, Criminology, Economics, Political Science, and History n The study of social life and the social causes and consequences of human behavior –Sociologists look for the social causes/influences of human behavior –Looks beyond psychology n Sociologists rely on “The Sociological Imagination”

5. 4/22 The Sociological Imagination is the Ability to See the Relationship Between Individual Experiences and the Larger Society in Which They Occur.

6. 5/22 n Sociologists try not to take anything for granted or accept anything at face value n Want to “peel” back the layers of reality n Are generally skeptical of explanations about human behavior or situations until proven to be true –Always ask “why?” and “how?”

7. 6/22 Why ????

8. 7/22 Because not everything is what it seems...

9. 8/22 Also, We Sometimes Rely On Common Sense To Explain Human Behavior And Other Situations

10. 9/22 Examples n Those who suffered from child abuse are more likely to abuse their children n Those who live together before marriage have a better chance of a successful marriage than those who did not live together n Couples with children are happier than those who do not have children n The majority of those on welfare are lazy and really don’t want to work

11. 10/22 Day Two

12. 11/22 Why Study Sociology? n Helps us determine why people do the things that they do –E.g. Why do some people grow up to be child abusers, alcoholics, poor, etc.? n Allows us to make important decisions regarding policies, laws, etc. that effect society –Example: What is the best way to treat poverty

13. 12/22 How And Why Did Sociology Emerge? n 19th Century governments began collecting statistics on: n Criminal activity n Birth and death rates n Suicide rates

14. 13/22 The Result: n Social scientists discovered patterns that seemed contradictory to common sense n Noticed that these patterns remained consistent, again defying common sense

15. 14/22 Suicide As An Example n Common sense suggested suicide was an individualistic, random action n Yet, if this were true, we would expect to see fluctuations, not stable patterns n Yet 3 patterns emerged –Rates were extremely stable from year to year –Rates often varied greatly from one place to another –Suicide rates were rising all over Europe n These Patterns and the questions they elicited gave rise to sociology

16. 15/22 Durkheim’s View of Suicide n Durkheim challenged purely psychological explanations for suicide –Noticed that suicide was more than just an individual act, social forces played a role n n He found that two things determine who is at risk for suicide – –Social integration (How imbedded in a social network are you?) – –Social regulation (How tightly does the society or reference group regulate you?) n n Found that there were four types of suicide, each of which corresponded to the two variables above

17. High High Low Low Integration Regulation Integration Regulation High Low

18. 17/22 Durkheim’s 4 Types of Suicide n n Altruistic (extreme social integration) – –Found that those who were extremely integrated in groups had high suicide rates » »E.g. Military personal n n Egoistic (lack of social integration) – –Found that people with few family and friendship ties had higher suicide rates n n Fatalistic (extreme social regulation) – –Found that those whose lives were excessively ordered by agents over whom they have no control had higher suicide rates » »E.g. prisoners and mental patients

19. 18/22 n n Anomic (lack of social regulation) – –Found that those whose lives were loosely regulated had higher suicide rates » »E.g. Individuals with a lot of power, rock stars (Kurt Cobain)

20. 19/22 Conclusions n n Psychological explanations cannot fully explain why people commit suicide n n Social integration and regulation help determine who is more at risk for suicide – –In short, social relationships (or lack thereof) shape the decision to commit suicide

21. 20/22 Day Three

22. 21/22 The Four Sociological Perspectives n Functionalism n Conflict n Interactionist n Postmodern

23. The Conflict Perspective n Society is diverse; everyone is competing for resources n Power is unequally distributed –Marxists suggests that capitalistic societies consist of 2 classes: »Bourgeoisie: those who own the means of production »Proletariat: those who sell their labor –Feminists argue that men generally have more power than women n The powerful oppress the powerless n The powerful create self-serving social policies n There are always winners and losers n Conflict theory challenges the status quo

24. The Functionalist Perspective –Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton, Kingsley Davis –Major Assumptions »Society is a system of highly integrated parts »Each part works to maintain the whole »Each part has a function n Manifest, latent, dysfunction »There is value consensus »Rapid change is not desirable »Typically supports the status quo

25. The Interpretive (Interactionist) Perspective n Max Weber, Georg Simmel, George Herbert Mead, Erving Goffman, W.I. Thomas, Harold Garfinkle n The world is socially created through the use of mutually understood symbols –Signs, gestures, language, shared values n Reality is based on subjective interpretation, not objective fact –What is defined as real is real in its consequence (W.I. Thomas) n There is not one reality; rather there are multiple realties –Reality is relative to time, place, and person »E.g. Smoking as a deviant activity

26. An Example... Smoking In The Early 1970’s Non-Deviant Deviant Non-Deviant Deviant * Smoking outdoors *Smoking in an airplane *Smoking in the presence * Smoking outdoors *Smoking in an airplane *Smoking in the presence of a lady without asking of a lady without asking

27. An Example... Smoking In The Early 1970’s Non-Deviant Deviant Non-Deviant Deviant * Smoking outdoors *Smoking in an airplane *Smoking in the presence * Smoking outdoors *Smoking in an airplane *Smoking in the presence of a lady without asking of a lady without asking

28. The Postmodern Perspective n nRoland Barthes, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida n nPostmodern Society is characterized by: – –An Information explosion – –A rise in consumerism – –Contributions to a global village n nEmphasis on communication technology – –Has shrunk the world and changed the way we view “reality” – –Time (History) and space (geography) are no longer viewed as unified and coherent in the postmodern world n nAnti-foundational – –Rejects the “grand narratives” of previous theories n nThere are no absolutes – –All truth is relative – –All meaning is a social construction (we make it up) » »Religion, Science, History, Ethics, etc. n nA-historical – –History is constructed by those in power – –History is not a record of objective facts – –History is constructed by those who successfully “defeat” others who are writing opposing views of history