Introduction to Sociology

1. Introduction to Sociology The Sociological Perspective

2. Sociology • The scientific study of human organization and social interactions. • Goal is to understand social situations and look for repeating patterns in society. • Children abductions in the U.S. • Sexual predators on the internet • Focus is on the group, not the individual. • Issues of reporting personal experiences….

3. Applied Sociology • Applying sociology to solving real-world problems: • How does building a dam affect the residents of the area? • How does jury makeup affect the outcome of a case? • How do relationships among administrators, doctors, nurses, and patients affect hospital care?

4. Social Science Disciplines

5. Sociology Vs. Other Disciplines

6. The Development of Sociology • Emerged as a separate field of study in Europe during the 19th century. • During this period the social order was shaken by the industrial revolution and by the American and French revolutions.

7. Auguste Comte (1798–1857) Identified two major areas for sociology: • Social statics - study of how social institutions are interrelated, focusing on order, stability, and harmony. • Social dynamics - study of how societies develop and change over time. • Comte had a determinist view of society • Determinism in the philosophical sense implies that all events are dependent on precedent events – free will?

8. Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) • Published Theory and Practice of Society in America, in 1837. • The book analyzed the customs and lifestyles of the 19th century United States. • Her travels through the United States observing prisons, mental hospitals, factories and family gatherings formed the basis for the book. • Scholars should use their research to bring social reform and benefit society • Slavery in America?

9. IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…

10. Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) • Believed society was similar to a living organism. • Just as organs of the body make specialized contributions, the various segments of society are interdependent. • A proponent of Social Darwinism.

11. Social Darwinism • Applied Charles Darwin’s notion of “survival of the fittest” to society. • Lack of success was viewed as an individual failing unrelated to barriers created by society. • To help the poor and needy was to intervene in a natural evolutionary process. • Can you think of some other examples?

12. Sociology in the 19th Century • Three scholars shaped sociology into a relatively coherent discipline: • Karl Marx • Émile Durkheim • Max Weber • Their ideas were greatly shaped by industrialization, capitalism, and socio-political revolutions

15. Karl Marx (1818–1883) • Believed the history of human societies could be seen as the history of class conflict between: • The bourgeoisie, who own and control the means of production. • The proletariat, who make up the mass of workers. • A critique of capitalism

16. Karl Marx (1818–1883) • Marx lived shortly after the French and American revolutions • He was greatly influenced by what he observed to be conflict as an engine of change • Historical development

17. Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) • Believed individuals were the products of their social environment. • Society shapes people in every possible way. • Showed how a personal act, suicide, is patterned by social factors. • Differences in suicide according to religious practices

18. Durkheim’s Three Types of Suicide • Egoistic suicide - derives from loneliness and a commitment to personal beliefs over group values. • Altruistic suicide - the individual is willing to die for the sake of the community. • Anomic suicide - results from feeling disconnected from society’s values.

19. Suicide in the United States • Social factors: • Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds. • Older adults account for 20% of suicide deaths, but only 13% of the overall U.S. population. • Suicide rates for Native Americans are 1.5 times the national rates. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_sui_rat_mal-health-suicide-rate-males

20. Max Weber (1846 – 1920) • Ideology can influence the economic system (material conditions) • Ideology as means to explain the development of capitalism • Rational man • Minimize risk – maximize profits • Bureaucracy

21. Robert Merton Influential proponent of the functionalist theory. Two forms of social functions Manifest The intended and recognized consequences of those process Going to college to obtain knowledge Latent Unintended or not readily recognized consequences of such processes New opportunities Finding lasting friendships

22. Contemporary Sociology What is a theory? A theory is a systematic explanation for the observations related to a particular aspect of life.

24. Functionalism Views society as a system of highly interrelated structures or parts that function or operate together harmoniously

25. Conflict People are basic struggling battling over something

26. Symbolic interactionism Concerned with the meaning that people place on their own and one another’s behavior.

27. Materialism • Human consciousness rests on certain material conditions without which it would not exist • In other words, ideas reflect the economic, physical, or environmental conditions! • Early communities • Lord of the flies • The ideas of any epoch are the ideas of a ruling class because they control the means of mental production