1. Sociology

6. What is sociology?

7. Step Two Step One Step Three
Title goes here
Step Two
Key Words
Essential Questions
Headings
Step One
Don’t copy word from word off of slides
You can use diagrams, charts, lists, etc. It does not have to look exactly like the slide
Step Three
In 3-5 sentences, summarize the main idea of the notes

8. “No Man is an Island.” (John Donne)

9. The Role Of Influence In Our Lives
How are individuals treated according to:
Age
Sex
Race
Religion
Education
Nationality
Economic Background
The Role Of Influence In Our Lives

10. What is Sociology?
The social science discipline that looks at the development and structure of human society and how it works
Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior.

11. Sociology Subject Matter:
Sociologists investigate the structure of groups (NOT individuals), organizations, and societies, and how people interact within these contexts.
The individual parts create a new whole.

14. All human behaviour is social so the subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile mob; from organized crime to religious cults; from the divisions of race, gender and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture; and from the sociology of work to the sociology of sports. (ASA)

15. The Roles we Play
We all play certain roles in our society – Social Scientists refer to this as status
Status is the term used to describe our position within an institution

16. For eg. Erindale SS – There are many positions at Erindale ranging from teacher, vice-principal, guidance counselor, principal, student and superintendent – Can you put them in order on the hierarchy?

17. Hierarchy
Hierarchy is the ranking system used in any particular environment based on authority of power.
All groups encourage conformity e.g. Mean Girls is an excellent example of cliques.
Each position or role requires a certain type of expertise which is valued by society. Other roles may not be valued but are still useful to society according to a certain Sociological school of thought. Do you know the school of thought that believes that everything in society serves a purpose?

18. Hierarchy continued…
In order to distinguish between these roles people are expected to dress and act in a certain way
On any given day we can play many different roles in society – eg. A parent can drive their kids to school and then go to work and teach their students

19. Rules, Norms and Values
Values – Society carries with it a system of values. A particular set of values are assigned to each role. The practitioners of these roles are expected to accept and internalize these values.
Norms – These are rules set out for a particular role that are considered standard behaviour (eg. Catholic Priests are expected to be celibate)
Rules – These are developed by
cultures based on their system of
values

20. Deviance
Deviance – Any behaviour that is different from the societal norm. It is deviant because we, as a society, do not accept it
Deviance can range from simple eccentricities to behaviour that harms society or is considered disreputable

21. Rehabilitation
Sociology has formed a strong link with the justice system
A fundamental component of modern imprisonment is rehabilitation, or trying to re-educate and resocialize inmates so that they can grow to accept society’s values and norms

22. Schools of Thought in Sociology
Sociologists have debated among themselves about the real nature of society
As societies change and become more diverse sociologists need to consider cultural diversity when considering sociological issues

23. Origins of Sociology

24. August Comte French philosopher Founder of sociology
Coined the term “sociology”
Tried to find solutions to the chaos caused by the French Revolution
Influenced by the scientific method
Believed that sociologists should concern themselves with the problems of order and change
Improvement of society
Never completed college
Suffered from depression
August Comte

25. Emile Durkheim French Taught philosophy
Taught first social science course in France
Systematically applied methods of science to the study of society
Developed the idea of a function-positive consequence that an element of society has for the maintenance of a social system
Study only aspects of society that are directly observable
First sociologist to test theories through statistical analysis
Argued agreement among citizens for conformity and dependence
Emile Durkheim

26. Karl Marx Born in Germany to middle-class parents
Received doctorate from the University of Berlin
Worked as a writer and editor for a racial newspaper
Believed that overall structure of a society is influenced by how the economy is organized
Thought that people who own the means of production control society
Stated that imbalance of power leads to conflict between owners and laborers
Was deeply troubled by social conditions produced by capitalist system
Believed that the task of social scientist was to transform society
Emphasized that conflict is the primary cause of social change
Karl Marx

27. Herbert Spencer English Worked as a civil engineer for a railway
Received large inheritance in his thirties
Was influenced by views of Charles Darwin
Viewed society as a system of interdependent parts that work together to maintain system
Believed that social change and unrest were natural occurrences in society’s evolution toward stability and perfection
Asserted that the fittest societies would survive over time
Believed in “Social Darwinism”
Herbert Spencer

28. Max Weber German with middle-class parents
Received doctorate from University of Berlin
Founded the German sociological society in 1910
Was interested in groups within a society more than in society as a whole
Believed that sociologists should uncover the feelings ands thoughts of the individuals
Verstehen-sociologist places himself/herself in the place of others and attempts to see things through their eyes
humans act on basis of own understanding of a situation (walk mile in my shoes)
Max Weber

29. Origins of Sociology… American Sociologists
Jane Addams: social problems created by imbalance of power w/in social classes
W.E.B. DuBois: focused on race, racial discrimination, and segregation

30. Schools of Thought in Sociology

31. Sociological Theories

32. Structural-Functionalism
According to structural-functionalism, each society should provide its members with the fundamental requirements for functioning
A system must have a way of fulfilling material needs, a system for socializing and educating the young, a way of regulating human reproduction (usually marriage)

33. Structural-Functionalists believe their role is to try to explain the role of society’s systems in enabling human society to function
Structural-Functionalists do not concern themselves with change but instead with how society works to meet their needs

34. Emphasizes the contribution (function) of each part of society
Basic agreement on values within a society
People typically cooperate to reach common goals

35. Different kinds of functions
Manifest function (recognized functions)
Example: learning math at school
Latent function (unrecognized functions)
Example: forming friendships at school
Dysfunction (negative consequences)

36. Famous Practitioners
Talcott Parsons
Bronislaw Manolinski

37. Criticisms… Too much emphasis on harmony
Downplays forces that divides people

38. Sociological Theories

39. Symbolic Interactionism
Focuses on the actual interaction among people based upon mutually understood symbols
Symbols have assigned meanings to them
This perspective in on micro-level whereas the other to are macro perspectives. Instead of concentrating on large social structures, they recognize the way people interact with one another. Groups exist only because individual’s influence one another’s behavior
Symbol: something chosen to represent something else. The meaning of a symbol is not determined by its own physical characteristics, but rather we assign meaning to them.
This perspective is on a micro level whereas the others are macro perspectives. Instead of cnoncentrating on large social structures, they recognize the way people interact with one another. Groups exist only because individuals influence one another’s behaviour.
Symbol: something chosen to represent something else. The meaning of a symbol is not determined by its own physical characteristics, but rather we assign meaning to i.

40. It is essentially how we as individuals process and interpret what we observe in society, not society’s institutions, that form the core of our value system
Understand societies by understanding how the human mind intervenes between what we observe and how we act
For this reason, Symbolic Interactionists focus their research on the human mind rather than on structures in society

41. Symbolic Interactionism
Dramaturgy: approach that depicts
human interaction as a theatrical
performance
Like actors, we present ourselves through dress, gestures, and tone of voice
Social life as drama; actors performing roles
Impression Management- act in particular way to attract attention

42. Focuses on the actual interaction among people based upon mutually understood symbols
Symbols have assigned meanings to them

43. Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionists believe humans have complex brains and little instinctive behaviour
This means they can interpret for themselves the stimuli they receive in their daily life and attach their own meanings to them
Eg. One person might pursue fame and fortune while a sibling might dedicate his or her life to charitable work in a developing country

44. Three Assumptions of Symbols
We learn the meaning of a symbol from the way we see others react to it
Once meaning is learned, we base our behavior (interactions) on them
Imagine how others will react to our behavior
-we guide our interactions with people according to the behavior we think others expect from us

45. Cat
Dog
Colors, Words

46. Criticisms…
Ignores structures’ influence on how we interpret experiences
How can we be sure that our interpretations are not influenced by class?

47. Sociological Theories

48. Conflict Theory Emphasis on power and competition
Groups compete to promote their special interests and values
Example: use of political groups

49. Conflict Theory…
Focuses on disagreements among various groups in a society
Social living is a contest
Who gets what
People with power get large share of what’s considered valuable

51. Neo-Marxism
Based on ideas originally proposed by Karl Marx ( )
Marx believed that economic power led to political power. This is the key to understanding societies
The struggle for economic power means that society is not static but ever-changing – social change is the result of a change made to the economic system

52. Therefore, if we want to understand society, we must understand the economic system in place
Neo-Marxists believe the economic system creates a rich class of owners and a poor class of workers
They also believe that social institutions (churches, schools, prisons, family etc.) have been created to perpetuate the division between the powerful and the powerless

53. Criticisms… Too limited Ignores some good aspects of capitalism
Constant downplays people’s attempts to bring harmony

54. Feminist Theory

55. Feminist Theory
Feminist Theorists focus on sex and gender issues, believing that women have traditionally been disadvantaged in society because men have discriminated against them
They believe that men have made the decisions in society and that they tend to favour men.

57. Criticisms… What about race and class?
Not the only factor in who has power

58. Inclusionism
Inclusionists recognized that conflict could take place in a society between ethnic, racial and religious groups as well as between economic classes
Before WWII, most sociologists took an assimilationist view of race believing the cultural majority would eventually absorb the minority (melting pot)

59. In the late 1960s however, changing immigration policies changed all this as large numbers of immigrants moved to places like Canada to live

60. Theory Puzzle Practice

61. Theory Puzzle Practice

62. Theory Puzzle Practice

63. Activity
In pairs, empty your pockets/bag and analyze the objects according to the following:
Aesthetics (beautiful? Pleasant?)
Utility (Purpose? Worth? Usefulness?
Values (Your beliefs? Morals? Background?)
Technology (Advanced? Tech. savvy?)
What do these items say about our society?