Sociology Ch.1 The Sociological Perspective

The 3 early sociological thinkers

August Comte, Alexis de Tocqueville, Harriet Martineau

The 3 classical sociologists who's combined ideas continue to influence the social sciences

Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber

The 3 main theoretical frameworks

Functionalism(macro), Conflict(macro), Symbolic Interaction(micro)

Debunking

Looking behind the facades of everyday life, Peter Berger

The sociological imagination distinguishes between

Troubles and issues

Social action

a behavior to which people give meaning, major contribution of Weber

Diversity

a central theme studied by sociologists

Power

a person or group's ability to exercise influence and control over other

Sociology is

a scientific way of thinking about society and its influence on human groups

Diversity lies at the heart of many difficult social problems, but it is also

a source of great cultural richness and human achievement

Public rituals, including punishment

are important because they create a bond among the members of society

Manifest functions

are the stated and intended goals of social behavior

macrosociology theories

are those theories that strive to understand the society as a whole, Durkheim, Marx, Weber are macrosociological theorists

Marx used a class analysis to explain capitalism, a system of relationships among different classes including:

capitalists (highest power), the proletariat(working class), the petty bourgeoise(small business owners), and the lumpenproletariat(discarded, homeless)

Feminist Theory

developed to understand the status of women in society and using the knowledge to better women's lives, takes gender as the primary lens through which to view society

Conflict theory, functionalism, symbolic interaction, and feminism

each make a unique contribution to the study of society

Georg Simmel

early sociologist who developed the concept of critical distance

Sociologists believe that these persistent problems are_____

embedded in society

Symbolic Interaction theory

emphasizes the role of individuals in giving meaning to social behavior, thereby creating society, studies the ways groups of people, cultures, and societies assign different meaning to behavior, events, or things

Sociology is a(n) _____ discipline, meaning conclusions are based on systematic observations.

empirical discipline

Emile Durkheim

first to talk about anti-semitism, believed people are held together by belief systems, well known for his early work on suicide, the basis functionalism

Microsociology theories

focus on face to face interaction, research that studies individuals and group processed in society

The "Chicago School"

focused on how society shaped the mind and identity of people

Functionalism

focuses on how each of society's parts contribute to the stability of the. whole , each part has specific function to fulfill and must do so for the society to function properly, derives from Durkheim

Jane Adams

from Chicago, was a leader in the settlement housing movement, was the only practicing sociologist ever to win a Nobel Peace Prize

Strangers

have a unique perspective because while they are part of a group they also have critical distance

Karl Marx

his work was devoted to explaining how capitalism shaped society

Critical distance

in order for sociologists to engage in debunking, they must be able to detach from the situation and view things critically

Age of Enlightenment or Age of Reason

in the 18th and 19th century, faith in the ability for mankind to solve its problems and survive

Contribution of class by Marx

is a fundamental dimension of society that shapes social behavior

According to Social Darwinists "Survival of the fittest"

is also the driving force of social and biological evolution

A criticism of conflict theory

is that it understates the cohesion and stability found in society

Sociological imagination

is the same as sociological perspective but is used more

American sociology had its unique flavor

less theoretical and more practical, involved a belief that sociology could solve social problems

Economic organization of society

marx argued was the most important influence on how humans think and behave

Sociology conclusions are based on

observation, reasoning, and logical analysis

How to Observe Manner's and Morals

one of Harriet Martineau's books, was the first to discuss observing behavior while participating in the situation

Understanding diversity is crucial to understanding society

patterns of social change and social structure are patterned by diverse group experiences

Society had 3 basic dimensions according to Weber

political, economic, and cultural, which must all be examined

Troubles

privately felt problems that spring from events or feelings in a person's life

Issues

problems that affect large numbers of people and have their origins in the institutional arrangements and history of a society

Symbolic interactionism does not examine society in terms of its abstract institutions

rather it focuses on immediate social interaction to be the place where "society" exists

Positivism

scientific observation and description is considered the highest form of knowledge

Conflict theory

sees society as organized around the unequal distribution of resources and held together through power and coercion, derived from Karl Marx

Functionalist theorists and conflict theorists both share the belief that

social behavior originates in the structure of society

Wright Mills coined the term

sociological imagination

Societal Context

sociologists view all human behavior as occurring in a ____

Unlike the media sociologists use

specific research techniques and well-tested theories

Thomas Theorem

states that people behave according to what they believe to be real, not necessarily what is objectively true, this principle is fundamental to symbolic interactionism, society is said to be socially constructed through human interpretation

Critics of functionalism argue

that this theory offers a conservative view of society and understates the roles of power and conflict in society

Tyranny of the majority

the ability of the majority in a democracy to impose its will on everyone else

Sociological Perspective

the ability to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life

The beliefs of the common people tend to support the interests of the capitalist system, not the workers themselves because

the capitalist class control the production of ideas

Durkheim's major contribution to the discipline of sociology

the discovery of the social basis of human behavior

Marx argued that profit is produced through

the exploitation of the working class

August Comte

the founding father of sociology, coined the term sociology

Laissez-faire

the non-interference doctrine, social reforms should not be implemented because they interfered with the natural progression of society

W.E.B Dubois wrote

the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line

According to Mills, the task of sociology was to understand

the relationship between individuals and the society in which they live

Sociology

the study of human behavior in society

Latent functions

the unintended consequences of behavior

Sociologists achieve critical distance through

their willingness to question the forces that shape behavior

Despite the individualism of Americans

they had little independence of mind

Racial and ethnic groups comprise of 23% in this country

this % continues to steadily increase

Alexis de Tocqueville

thought democratic values and beliefs in human equality positively influenced American society

Sociological thinkers have developed different perspectives

to enable them to organize and interpret observations

Berger called debunking the ____ of sociology

unmasking tendency

Capitalism, according to Marx

was an economic system based on profit and private property

Harriet Martineau

was fascinated by the newly emerging American culture, her book Society in America was overlooked for many years

Max Weber (Vay-ber)

was greatly influenced by Marx's work and built on it, he saw society from a multidimensional perspective

Social order is maintained not by consensus but by domination

with power in the hands of those with the greatest political, economic, and social resources