1. The Sociological Perspective
The systematic study of human society

2. “...The systematic study of human society ”
What Is Sociology?
“...The systematic study of human society ”
Systematic
Scientific discipline that focuses attention on patterns of behavior
Human society
Group behavior is primary focus; how groups influence individuals and vice versa
At the “heart of sociology”
The sociological perspective which offers a unique view of society

3. Why Take Sociology? Education and liberal arts
Well-rounded as a person
Social expectations
More appreciation for diversity
The global village
Domestic social marginality
Enhanced life chances
Micro and macro understanding
Increase social potentials

4. Benefits of the Sociological Perspective
Helps us assess the truth of common sense
Helps us assess both opportunities and constraints in our lives
Empowers us to be active participants in our society
Helps us live in a diverse world

5. Importance of Global Perspective
Where we live makes a great difference in shaping our lives
Societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected through technology and economics.
Many problems that we face in the United States are more serious elsewhere.
Thinking globally is a good way to learn more about ourselves.

6. Global Map 1.1 Women’s Childbearing in Global Perspective

7. The Sociological Perspective Peter Berger
Seeing the general in the particular
Para sosiolog mengidentifikasi pola sosial yang umum pada perilaku individu yang khusus.
Seeing the strange in the familiar
Memberikan ide bahwa perilaku manusia adalah didasari pada apa yang orang hendak lakukan
Pemahaman bahwa masyarakt akan membentuk hidup kita.

8. Durkheim’s Study of Suicide
Emile Durkheim’s research showed that society affects even our most personal choices.
More likely to commit: male Protestants who were wealthy and unmarried
Less likely to commit: male Jews and Catholics who were poor and married
One of the basic findings: Why?
The differences between these groups had to do with “social integration.”
Those with strong social ties had less of a chance of committing suicide.

9. National Map 1.1 Suicide Rates across the United States

10. Figure 1.1
Rate of Death by Suicide, by Race and Sex, for the United States.

11. C. Wright Mills’ Sociological Imagination
Kekuatan dari perspektif sosiologi berada tidak hanya pada kehidupan individu yang berubah tapi masyarakat yang bertransformasi
Masyarakat, tidak hanya kegagalan individu merupakan penyebab masalah sosial.
Imaginasi sosiologis merubah masalah- masalah personal menjadi isu publik

12. The Origins of Sociology
One of the youngest of academic disciplines, sociology has its origins in powerful social forces.
Social Change
Industrialization, urbanization, political revolution, and a new awareness of society
Science
3-Stages: theological, metaphysical & scientific
Positivism–A way of understanding based on science
Gender & Race
These important contributions have been pushed to the margins of society.

13. Sociological Theory
Theory: a statement of how and why facts are related
Explains social behavior to the real world
Theoretical paradigm: A set of fundamental assumptions that guides thinking
Structural-functional
Social-conflict
Symbolic-interaction

14. Structural-Functional Paradigm
The basics
A macro-level orientation, concerned with broad patterns that shape society as a whole
Views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability
Key elements:
Social structure refers to any relatively stable patterns of social behavior found in social institutions.
Social function refers to the consequences for the operation of society as a whole.

15. Who’s Who in the Structural-Functional Paradigm
Auguste Comte
Importance of social integration during times of rapid change
Emile Durkheim
Helped establish sociology as a discipline
Herbert Spencer
Compared society to the human body
Robert K. Merton
Manifest functions are recognized and intended consequences.
Latent functions are unrecognized and unintended consequences.
Social dysfunctions are undesirable consequences.

16. Social-Conflict Paradigm
The basics:
A macro-oriented paradigm
Views society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change
Key elements:
Society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the expense of the majority.
Factors such as race, sex, class, and age are linked to social inequality.
Dominant group vs. disadvantaged group relations

17. Who’s Who in the Social-Conflict Paradigm
Karl Marx
The importance of social class in inequality and social conflict
W.E.B. Du Bois
Race as the major problem facing the United States in the 20th century

18. Feminism and the Gender-Conflict Approach
A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men
Closely linked to feminism, the advocacy of social equality for women and men
Women important to the development of sociology: Harriet Martineau and Jane Addams

19. The Race-Conflict Approach
A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories
People of color important to the development of sociology: Ida Wells Barnett and W.E.B. Du Bois

20. Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm
The basics
A micro-level orientation, a close-up focus on social interactions in specific situations
Views society as the product of everyday interactions of individuals
Key elements
Society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they interact with one another.
Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic of subjective meanings.

21. Who’s Who in the Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm
Max Weber
Understanding a setting from the people in it
George Herbert Mead
How we build personalities from social experience
Erving Goffman
Dramaturgical analysis
George Homans & Peter Blau
Social-exchange analysis

22. Critical Evaluation Structural-Functional Social-Conflict
Too broad, ignores inequalities of social class, race & gender, focuses on stability at the expense of conflict
Social-Conflict
Too broad, ignores how shared values and mutual interdependence unify society, pursues political goals
Symbolic-Interaction
Ignores larger social structures, effects of culture, factors such as class, gender & race

23. Applying Theory Major Theoretical Approaches

24. Applying the Approaches: The Sociology of Sports
The Functions of Sports
A structural-functional approach directs our attention to the ways in which sports help society operate
Sports have functional and dysfunctional consequences

25. Sports and Conflict
Social-conflict analysis points out that games people play reflect their social standing.
Sports have been oriented mostly toward males.
Big league sports excluded people of color for decades.
Sports in the United States are bound up with inequalities based on gender, race, and economic power.

26. Figure 1.2 “Stacking” in Professional Football
Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

27. Sports as Interaction
Following the symbolic-interaction approach, sports are less a system than an ongoing process.
All three theoretical approaches— structural-functional, social-conflict, and symbolic-interaction—provide different insights into sports. No one is more correct than the others.