Chapter 2: The Development Of Sociology

The study of discipline of sociology originated approximately ______?

200 Years Ago

Collective Consciousness

A common psyche (spirit) that results from the blending together of many individual mentalities yet exist over and above any individuals.

Social Theories

Explanations of social phenomena.

Social Actions

External objective behaviors as well as internalized values, motives, and subjective meaning that individuals attach to their behavior and to the behavior of others.

T/F Charles Darwin coined the term "Survival of the fittest"

F

T/F Unmarried people have a lower rate of suicide than married people

F

The ______ theory rejects the positivist position that sociology should be value free

Humanistic

When students try to see where their teacher is coming from in his/her lecture assignments, the students are more likely applying the concepts of

Marx Weber

Functional Alternatives

Meeting functions of the system in ways other than initially intended.

T/F Feminist theorists stress that gender is basic to all social structures

T

T/F Functionalists focus on order and stability, with an emphasis on equilibrium

T

T/F The evolutionary perspective tends to be concerned with long-term change

T

Structural Functionalism

"Social System Theory" "Equilibrium Theory" "Functionalism" Use macro-level analysis to explain society and social structures. The theory that societies contain certain interdependent structures, each of which performs certain functions for the maintenance of society. According to the functionalist perspective, social systems exists because they fulfill function for the society. They focus on order and stability. Used by sociologists to study and analyze every form of social system, including families, prisons, governments, communities, schools, sports teams, and many others.

Two Types of Function

(1) Immediate Purpose of what the system does (2) the broader, less consequences resulting from a particular type of structure of organization.

Alienation

A feeling of frustration and disconnection from work and life among the workers.

Social System

A set of interrelated social statuses and the expectations that accompany them. Five major structures: family, religion, education, economy, and government.

Theory

A set of logically and systematically interrelated propositions that explain a particular process or phenomenon. Based on a set of assumptions and self-evident truths; they include definitions and describe the conditions in which the phenomenon exists.

Conflict Theory

A social theory that views conflict as inevitable and natural and as a significant cause of social change. It's about the exploitation of one class of people by another class.

Exchange Theory

A theory of interaction that attempts to explain social behavior in terms of reciprocity of costs and rewards. Assumes that people seek rewarding statuses, relationships, and experiences, and they try to avoid costs, pain, and punishments.

Evolutionary Theory

A theory of social development that suggests that societies, like biological organisms, progress through stages of increasing complexity. 2. Concerned with long term change. Early sociologists often equated evolution with progress and improvement, believing natural selection would eliminate weak societies and those that couldn't adapt. The strong societies, they believed, deserved to survive because they were better

Chicago School

An approach developed by Cooley Mead,Thomas, and others in the 1920's that emphasized the importance of social interactions in the development of human thought and action. 2. Focused on micro level approaches.

Max Weber(1862-1920)

Based his studies on on the belief that societies evolved like organisms. Concerned with value-free sociology. Believed that sociologists must study not just social facts and social structures but also social actions. The goal was to reach "Sympathetic understanding" of the mind of others. He believed that once values, motives, and intentions were identified, sociologists could treat (behavior??) objectively and scientifically. Argued that social class involves subjective perceptions of power, wealth, ownership, and social prestige, as well as the objective aspects of these factors.

Law of Human Progress (or Law of the Three Stages

Basically states that society has gone through three stages: (1) the theological, the fictitious-- everything is explained and understood through the supernatural. Like ; (2) the metaphysical or abstract-- abstract forces are assumed to be the source of explanation and understanding; and (3) the scientific, the positivist-- scientific laws about the universe

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

Believed that human societies pass through an evolutionary process Darwin explained in his theory of natural selection. Coined the term "survival of the fittest". First to believe that human societies evolved according to the principles of natural laws. That societies that have adapted to their surroundings and cam compete will survive. Those that have not adapted and cannot compete will encounter difficulties and will, eventually, die. Believed that societies evolved from relative homogeneity and simplicity to heterogeneity and complexity. As simple societies progress, they become increasingly complex and differentiated. Viewed societies as not simply a collection of individuals but as organisms with a life and vitality of their own. Conflict and change were necessary parts of the evolutionary process. Believed in noninterference.

According to Marx, the recognition among workers that they share the same plight is known as _____

Class of consiousness

Social Conflict (Struggle and strife)

Class struggle due to economic inequality is at the core of society and the key source of social change. Belief that conflict, revolution and the overthrow of capitalism were inevitable.

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

Coined the term sociology." Father of sociology" First called this new social science as "social physics". Believed that societies must be studied in the same manner as the world of natural sciences. Said that sociology, like the natural sciences, would use empirical methods to discover basic laws of society, which would benefit humankind by playing a major part in the improvement of the human condition. Believed that sociology was the means by which a more just and rational social order could be achieved. Primary interested in applying scientific principles in social life to affect social situations. That social actions were governed by law.

Social dynamics

Comte's term for social process and forms of change. The organism;s processes and forms of change.

Social Statistics

Comte's term for the stable structure of a society. The structure of the organism.

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Concluded that political revolution was a vital necessity in the evolutionary process of society and that it was the only means by which the improvement of social conditions could be achieved. Believed that capitalism was dominant in shaping a society.

Dysfunctions

In structural theory, factors that lead to the disruption or breakdown of the social system.

Anomic Suicide

Individuals are faced with sudden social disorganization or a disruption in the social conditions that guide their lives. With such sudden changes, the values, goals, and rules for living may suddenly lose their meaning, thus leaving the individual in a state of being without guidance or patterns, or regulations, feeling alienated from life. 2. Suicide that results from sudden changes in society or in one's life, leading to disruptions of patterns that guide one's life.

Manifest Functions

Intended and recognized consequences of a social system.

Middle Range Theory

Linking general theory to empirical testing. 2. A set of propositions designed to link abstract theory with empirical testing.

Functions that are intended and recognized in a social system are called___

Manifest

According to Comte's law of human progress, the stage of human thought associated with political dominance being held by the clergy and lawyers is the ________ stage

Metaphysical

The theorist who believed that all social change is rooted in social conflict was ____

Not Mead, Not Weber, Not Comte

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

Refused to explain social events by assuming they operated according to the same rules as biology or psychology. Concluded that suicide was a social phenomenon, related to the individual's involvement in group life and the extent to which he or she was a part of a cohesive social unit. Believed that social integration was achieved through people's mutual dependence on, and acceptance of, a system of common beliefs.

Jane Addams

She was not a sociologist. Did not share ideas with her father about being a traditional wife. She did open up a Hull House (America's first settlement house and a place to serve Chicago's immigrant population. She often invited scholars from Chicago's school to visit the Hull House. Addams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize her work and remains, to date, the only sociologist to have received the award.

Social Facts

Social Phenomena are social facts that have distinctive social characteristics and determinants. Reliable and valid pieces of information about society. "Every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint. Since these facts are external to the individual, they outlive individuals and endure overtime. They include such thing as customs, laws, and general rules of behavior that people accept without question. In short, individuals are more the products of society than the creators of it.

Structural Functional Theory is sometimes referred to as

Social systems Theory, Equilibrium Theory, and Simply Functionalism

W.E.B Dubois (1868-1963)

The first African American to receive a PhD in Harvard University in any area of study. Devoted to bringing attention to the divisiveness between whites and blacks and and the overall plights of blacks in America. One of the founders of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), worked to empower African Americans to fight for social right. Eventually became a follower of Marx and Engels.

Economic Determinism

The idea that all change, social conditions, and even society itself are based on economic factors. That economic inequality results The idea that economic factors are responsible for most social change and for the nature of social conditions, activities, and institutions.

Proletariat

The industrial worker. The group in capitalist societies that does not own the means of production and has only labor to sell.

Bourgeoisie

The owners and rulers. The class of people who own the means of production.

Symbolic Interaction Theory

The social theory stressing interactions between people and the social processes that occur within the individual that are made possible by language and internalized meaning. It alerts us to the importance of effective communication among people so they can understand each other's perspectives.

Social Conditions

The state of the economy, degree of education, level of income, etc.

Latent Functions

The unintended consequences of a social system

Altruistic Suicide

This is when people are overly connected to society or a social group to the extent that that group takes on more meaning than their personal lives and that they live for the group. 2. Suicide that results from being overly integrated into groups and the group meaning taking on more importance than the individual.

Which of the following do symbolic interactionists believe?

Through interaction, we internalize values and social expectations.

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)

Translated Comte's work, "Positive Philosophy" into english. Condensed his six-volume work to two volumes. Recognized for her contributions to sociology and is considered to be one of the earliest founders of sociological thought and research.

Class Consciousness

Ultimately leads to revolution. Awareness among members of a society that the society is stratified.

Verstehen

Understanding human action by examining subjective meaning that people attach to their own behavior and to the behavior of others. Social Actions: External objective behaviors as well as internalized values, motives, and subjective meaning that individuals attach to their behavior and to the behavior of others. 2. Understanding human action by examining the subjective meanings that people attach to their own behavior and the behavior of others.

The first major center of sociological thought in the United States

University of Chicago

Fatalistic Suicide

When people are faced with oppressive social conditions with such a high degree of regulation over people's lives that they feel that there is no hope or possibility of pursuing their personal interest. Suicide that results from oppressive social conditions that lead one to a fatal sense of hopelessness.

Egoistic Suicide

is a result of not being sufficiently integrated into society of meaningful social groups. When this occurs, one does not have strong social ties, thus leaving an individual not only feeling alone but also not having the bonds that could help someone through a troubled period. 2. Suicide that results from lack of social integration into meaningful groups, leaving the individual with a sense of being isolated.