1. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 1 SOCIOLOGY Richard T. Schaefer Understanding Sociology 1

2. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 2 1. Understanding Sociology What is Sociology? What is Sociological Theory? The Development of Sociology Major Theoretical Perspectives Developing a Sociological Imagination Sociology in the Global Economy Applied and Clinical Sociology

3. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 3 What is Sociology? Sociology –Systematic study of social behavior and human groups How those relationships influence behavior How societies develop and change Influence of social relationships

4. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 4 What is Sociology? The Sociological Imagination –Awareness of relationship between an individual and the wider society (C. Wright Mills) Ability to view one’s society as an outsider, rather than from perspective of our limited experiences and cultural biases Goes beyond personal experiences and observations

5. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 5 The Development of Sociology Early Thinkers –Auguste Comte (1798–1857) Coined sociology to apply to the science of human behavior

6. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 6 The Development of Sociology Early Thinkers Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) –Developed fundamental thesis to help explain all society Anomie: loss of direction felt in a society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective

7. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 7 The Development of Sociology Max Weber (1864–1920) –To fully comprehend behavior, we must learn subjective meanings people attach to their actions, called Vertehen Ideal Type: construct or model for evaluating specific cases

8. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 8 The Development of Sociology Karl Marx (1818-1883) –Society fundamentally divided between two classes that clash in pursuit of their own interests Worked with Engles Emphasized group identification and associations that influence one’s place in society Argued working class should overthrow the existing class system

9. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 9 Latent Functions: unconscious or unintended functions that may reflect hidden purposes of an institution Dysfunctions: element or process of a society that may actually disrupt the social system or disrupt it stability Major Theoretical Perspectives –Emphasizes ways parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability Functionalist Perspective Manifest Functions: institutions are open, stated, conscious functions that involve intended, recognized, consequences of an aspect of society

10. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 10 Major Theoretical Perspectives Conflict Perspective –The Marxist View: conflict not merely a class phenomenon, but part of everyday life in all societies –Assumes social behavior is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups

11. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 11 Major Theoretical Perspectives Conflict Perspective Conducted research to assist the struggle for a racially egalitarian society Believed knowledge essential to combating prejudice and achieving tolerance and justice In-depth studies of urban life –An African American View: W. E. B. DuBois

12. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 12 Major Theoretical Perspectives Feminist Perspective –Views inequity in gender as central to all behavior and organization –Sometimes allied with conflict theory Also focuses on macro-level relationships, just as interactionists do

13. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 13 Major Theoretical Perspectives Interactionist Perspective –Generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction to understand society as a whole –Sociological framework for viewing humans as living in a world of meaningful objects Nonverbal communication: can include many gestures, facial expressions, and postures

14. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 14 Major Theoretical Perspectives Interactionist Perspective –George Herbert Mead (1863—1931) –Erving Goffman (1922—1982) Dramaturgical approach: people seen as theatrical performers

15. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 15 Major Theoretical Perspectives Table 1-1 Comparing Major Theoretical Perspectives Table to be continued on next slide

16. McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Slide 16 Major Theoretical Perspectives Table 1-1 Comparing Major Theoretical Perspectives