1. Sociological Imagination
Chapter 1
Sociological Imagination

2. Warm up! On a piece of paper (please put your name on it):
What were three social institutions influencing Kainat’s life outcomes?
Describe how one of those social institutions specifically shaped the results of the trial against her rapists?
What one thing would you change about the society Kainat lives in to help more women in Kainat’s situation obtain justice and equality under the law. Be very specific and BE SOCIOLOGICAL.

3. Learning Objectives Describe what sociology studies
Define the sociological imagination
What is a social institution
What is social identity
Explain social interaction
Describe functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism
Describe the difference between microsociology and macrosociology

4. Key Concepts Sociology Sociological imagination Social institution
Anomie
Double Consciousness
Functionalism
Conflict theory
Symbolic interactionism
Verstehen
Social construction
Microsociology
Macrosociology
Positivist sociology

5. Before sociology, how was human behavior explained?
How did we explain why
Some people were rich and others were poor
Why some people died and others lived
Why some people were in jail and others were free
Why some people were mistreated while others advantaged
Why some people were educated and others were not
Why some people were mean and depressed and others were kind and happy
God or Gods actions (predestination), fortune/karma, individual talent and gifts…NOW WE EXPLAIN BEHAVIORS WITH ___________________?

6. What is sociology? The scientific study of human society; environment
Individuals (or the self)
Groups, crowds, ties, networks, communities
Social institutions
Attitudes, values, norms, laws
Language, signs, symbols
Interactions with others and things
Roles - Race - Ethnicity/nationality - Sexuality
Status - Gender Class - Health - Religion
Socialization (how we learn to be members of a society)
Superstructure (economy and culture and how that affects EVERYTHING we do and EVERYTHING we are)

7. Why sociology?
Sociologists explain human social behavior by questioning everything that seems unquestionable or things that just seem “to be” or “just are”. Sociologists clearly understand that NOTHING is what it is, or just is. Everything is what it is FOR A REASON. Sociologist investigate to uncover the REASONS for the simplest of social transactions to the most complicated?
Meaning of things, values, beliefs, attitudes, ideologies, knowledge, assumptions, rules, processes, systems, reactions, structures, norms, etc
Why do we slow down when we see a police car? Or why do we eat with forks and spoons?
Why are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? Why is there terrorism or genocide or racism?

8. What is the sociological imagination?
The ability to connect the most basic, intimate aspects of an individual’s life to seemingly personal and remote historical forces
Examples: Rap music --- what social forces make rap music possible? Drug abuse --- what social forces make drug abuse and alcohol addiction possible? Divorce --- what social forces make divorce possible?
On a piece of paper, write down your race, gender, religion and economic class.
What social forces make your life what it is? What in history or the biography of your life makes you who you are today??

9. What is a social institution?
Systems and structures stable over time within society that shape the activities of groups and individuals and meet a social need.
Government (maintain social order)
Religion (provide meaning to lives)
Education (socialize members into same culture)
Economy (distribution of goods and services)
Family (reproduce and maintain health of members)
Media (inform, watchdog, cultural glue, entertain, serve economy and political system)
All of these social institutions can make a culture and/or a society.

10. What is social identity and theory?
The concept that your attitude of yourself is largely based on what and how others perceive you in society (shows the importance of group interactions)
How are poor people perceived
How are obese people perceived
How are beautiful or smart people perceived
Group formation and maintenance stresses the need of individual members to feel a sense of belonging (this is why we cannot exclude the power and influence of groups in our lives)
Sports teams
Fraternities and sororities
Gender
Race
Ethnicity or nationality
Religion
Career and professions
Political affiliation
Recreation (Crossfit, hunting, gaming, dancing, etc)

11. What is social interaction? What is social interactionism?
We act toward things on the basis of their meanings; face to face interactions with our context (work, romantic date, your child, classroom, period of time in history)
A police officer can be a protector, or a person who can kill you
A person who is crying can be sad or happy
The color black can be sexy or represent evil
Meanings are not inherent; they are negotiated through interaction with others
A person points a gun at you and demands your wallet…what do you do??
You need water…what do you do??
A homeless person asks you for money…what do you do??
Micro view of society
Think of something that had one meaning in 1950, but today has a different meaning; therefore our interactions are different.

14. Verstehen
Has come to mean a systematic interpretive process in which an outside observer of a culture attempts to relate to it and understand others.
Understanding the meaning of action from the actor's point of view. It is entering into the shoes of the other; adopting this research stance requires treating the actor as a subject, rather than an object of your observations.

15. Symbolic interactionism: Society is a stage, with actors, props and scripts.

17. What is structural functionalism?
A paradigm that begins with the assumption that society is a unified whole that functions because of the contributions of its separate structures
Macro view of society

18. The parts work together for the stability of the whole

19. Social cohesion, solidarity and interdependence
Everything is connected to create stability. When one thing changes, something else changes. Our environment or social structure/society consists of the following:
When culture changes, attitudes and values change, this can change social institutions --- laws we make and enforce, what we teach in schools, what we show on television, what we preach in churches, how we treat others, what is sold in stores, what we buy, and how families interact.
For functionalists, stability is important; therefore change should be slow, so there is no major disruption to the whole system. When change is fast and inevitable, the strongest will survive.

20. Ex: Durkheim and Suicide
Suicide is the result of anomie, a sense of disconnection brought about by change in the conditions of modern life.
He found that the more disconnected a person was from society (family, religion, community, etc), or the more disconnected society was from the person, the more likely the person was to commit suicide.
FUNCTIONALISM =
community, collective, solidarity, unity
= SOCIAL ORDER

21. What is conflict theory?
A paradigm that sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change, and emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change.
Conflict is generated by the competition between different class groups for scarce resources, which creates alienation, discontentment, and oppression; it is the source of all social change, which includes violence, revolution and sometimes extreme shifts in ideologies and power
Macro view of society

22. Struggle, competition, and fight for scarce resources
This struggle is negative for parts of society (the have-nots)
Only some groups are struggling for this scare resource; the powerful have easier access to scarce resources, and this is unequal, or called INEQUALITY
This could change if something or someone in society changed
Government takes action
Education makes people aware
Economy provides resources to access money

23. Macro-Micro Continuum

24. What is macrosociology?
The level of analysis that studies large scale social structures in order to determine how they affect the lives of groups and individuals. How the WHOLE of society impacts the PARTS of society.

26. What is microsociology?
The level of analysis that studies face to face and small (PARTS) group interactions in order to understand how they affect the larger (WHOLE) patterns and institutions of society. How the parts of society impact the whole of society.
Zooming in on an aspect of society in order to observe it, study it and document interesting aspects of it.