SOC 200 Ch 1
Classic sociological theories are still considered important and current, but new sociological theories
build upon the work of their predecessors and add to them
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895)
co author of "The Communist Manifesto" -one of the most influential political manuscripts in history. It also presents Marx's theory of society, which differed from what Comte proposed.
Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society are called
dysfunctions i.e. In education, examples include getting bad grades, truancy, dropping out, not graduating, and not finding suitable employment.
paradigms
philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them
culture refers to the group's shared..
practices, values, and beliefs.
Janet Saltzman Chafetz (1941-2006)
presented a model of feminist theory that attempts to explain the forces that maintain gender inequality as well as a theory of how such a system can be changed
social institutions
systems and structures within society that shape the activities of groups and individuals
social facts
the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life
social facts (Durkheim)
the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life
Max Weber (1864-1920) (conflict theory)
- agreed with Marx but also believed that, in addition to economic inequalities, inequalities of political power and social structure cause conflict. -different groups were affected differently based on education, race, and gender, and that people's reactions to inequality were moderated by class differences and rates of social mobility, as well as by perceptions about the legitimacy of those in power.
George Simmel (1858-1918)
- believed that conflict can help integrate and stabilize a society. - the intensity of the conflict varies depending on the emotional involvement of the parties, the degree of solidarity within the opposing groups, and the clarity and limited nature of the goals. - showed that groups work to create internal solidarity, centralize power, and reduce dissent -The stronger the bond, the weaker the discord -Resolving conflicts can reduce tension and hostility and can pave the way for future agreements.
Why are the records from the past that we have are extremely subjective and do not offer an unbiased view of social practice
-4th century through the 19th century, the Catholic Church was the seat of power -the Catholic Church the power to maintain its own traditions safeguard them from the influence of people practicing other religions. If any social patterns challenged any belief of the Church, those practitioners were massacred, burned at the stake, or labeled heretics
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) English philosopher
-British, developed a system of philosophy based on the theory of evolution -believed in the primacy of personal freedom and reasoned thinking. -Sought to develop a system whereby all human endeavours could be explained rationally and scientifically. -first book written w/ sociology in the title
Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (1748-1836) French
-French essayist who first coined the term sociology in 1780
Karl Marx (1818-1883) German philosopher and economist.
-Scientific socialist who coauthored "The Communist Manifesto" -believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production. -predicted that inequalities of capitalism would become so extreme that workers would eventually revolt. This would lead to the collapse of capitalism, which would be replaced by communism. -Communism is an economic system under which there is no private or corporate ownership: everything is owned communally and distributed as needed. -Marx's idea that social conflict leads to change in society is still one of the major theories used in modern sociology.
Symbolic Interactionism
-a theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world, and communicate with one another -focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society. -Communication—the exchange of meaning through language and symbols—is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds -George Herbert Mead is considered a founder of symbolic interactionism -these basic premises: humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those things; the ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and society; the meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances -Social scientists who apply symbolic-interactionist thinking look for patterns of interaction between individuals. Their studies often involve observation of one-on-one interactions (qualitative research)
Conflict Theory
-a theory that looks at society as a competition for limited resources -identified with the writings of German philosopher and economist Karl Marx -Social institutions like government, education, and religion reflect this competition in their inherent inequalities and help maintain the unequal social structure -Some individuals and organizations are able to obtain and keep more resources than others, and these "winners" use their power and influence to maintain social institutions. The perpetuation of power results in the perpetuation of oppression.
public sociology
-applying sociology for the public good; especially the use of the sociological perspective (how things are related to one another) to guide politicians and policy makers - goals of public sociology are to increase understanding of the social factors that underlie social problems and assist in finding solutions
Thornstein Veblen (1857-1929)
-began to study the economy through a social lens, writing about the leisure class, the business class, and other areas that touched on the idea of 'working' itself. -He researched the chronically unemployed, the currently unemployed, the working classes, and the impact of technology and business within society. -Veblen is known as a co-founder of the branch (or school) of institutional economics.
Robert E. Park (1864-1944)
-best known as the founder of social ecology -Park focused on how individuals lived within their environment -One of the first sociologists to focus on ethnic minorities, he wrote on the Belgian oppression of the Congolese. -he and Ernest Burgess researched the inner city to show that no matter who lived there, social chaos was prevalent. -was not the residents who caused the chaos but the environment.
Positivism (Auguste Comte)
-could study society using the same scientific methods utilized in natural sciences -study of social patterns
Max Weber (1864-1920)
-established a sociology department in Germany (1919) -wrote on many topics related to sociology including political change in Russia and social forces that affect factory workers. -known best for his 1904 book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism -believed that it was difficult, if not impossible, to use standard scientific methods to accurately predict the behavior of groups This even applied to the researchers themselves, who should be aware of how their own cultural biases could influence their research -introduced the concept of verstehen, a German word that means to understand in a deep way (—attempt to understand it from an insider's point of view) -proposed a philosophy of anti-positivism whereby social researchers would strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values -
Georg Simmel (1858-1918; German)
-focused on micro-level theories and analyzed the dynamics of two-person and three-person groups. -His work also emphasized individual culture as the creative capacities of individuals -art critic who wrote widely on social and political issues as well. -took an anti-positivism stance and addressed topics such as social conflict, the function of money, individual identity in city life, and the European fear of outsiders
Paradigms are philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to
-formulate theories, generalizations, and the experiments performed in support of them. -Three paradigms have come to dominate sociological thinking because they provide useful explanations: structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism.
W. E. B. Du Bois
-fought for African American rights. Helped to found Niagra Movement in 1905 to fight for and establish equal rights. This movement later led to the establishment of the NAACP -Harvard-trained historian, pioneered the use of rigorous empirical methodology into sociology. -His groundbreaking 1896-1897 study of the African American community in Philadelphia incorporated hundreds of interviews Du Bois conducted in order to document the familial and employment structures and assess the chief challenges of the community -1899 publication provided empirical evidence to challenge pseudoscientific ideas of biological racism (Morris, 2015; Green & Wortham, 2018), which had been used as justification to oppress people of different races -
Criticism of Conflict Theory
-it tends to focus on conflict to the exclusion of recognizing stability. -Many social structures are extremely stable or have gradually progressed over time rather than changing abruptly as conflict theory would suggest.-Ignores non-forceful which people and groups reach agreement -Approaches society from perspective of those who lack power -Focuses on economic factors as exclusive source of conflict
Criticism of Symbolic Interactionism
-often scrutinized because of the difficulty of remaining objective -extremely narrow focus on symbolic interaction - -Neglects larger social institutions and social processes Neglects powerful issues of stability and change
1347 to 1522, the bubonic plague ravaged Europe, killing up to 35% of population. How did this help sociologists?
-plague dealt a major blow to the credibility of the Catholic Church. -human reason and observation and could now be explained by scientific, testable, and retestable hypotheses instead of divine hands -literacy spread allowing more records and literature to become available for sociologists and historians to put social puzzles together.
Robert Merton (1910-2003)
-pointed out that social processes often have many functions -manifest and latent functions of social processes
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)
-proposed a theory of social conflict and provided a comparison of nomadic and sedentary life, an analysis of political economy, and a study connecting a tribe's social cohesion to its capacity for power -Wrote "The Science of Civilization" that predated Comte and Sociology by 500 Years. His ideas predated Durkheim on Social Cohesion by 550 years and Mills' insight into Sociology as the intersection of the individual, society, and history by 600 years.
Critisisms of Structural Functionalism
-that it can't adequately explain social change even though the functions are processes. -somewhat circular nature of this theory: repetitive behavior patterns are assumed to have a function, yet we profess to know that they have a function only because they are repeated -dysfunctions may continue, even though they don't serve a function, which seemingly contradicts the basic premise of the theory
Why were early 19th century people exposed to different societies and cultures
-the early 19th century- Industrial Revolution, increased mobility, and new kinds of employment. It was also a period of increased trade, travel, and globalization -many people moved to cities and turned away from their traditional religious beliefs - Ideas spread rapidly, groups were created, political decisions became public decisions.
Social Solidarity (Durkheim)
-the social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion -Émile Durkheim was interested in studying the social factors that affect suicide. He studied social solidarity, social ties within a group, and hypothesized that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religious differences
Charles Horton Cooley
-theorized that the "self" emerges from our ability to assume the point of view of others and imagine how those others see us -If someone reacts positively to our behavior, theoretically we will continue that behavior -wrote substantially on what he saw as the order of life in Human Nature and the Social Order (1902) followed by Social Organization in 1909 -very concerned with the increasing individualism and competitiveness of US society, fearing it would disrupt families as primary groups lost their importance.
George Herbert Mead (1863-1931)
-theory of the genesis of the mind and self. The outcome of socialization is the ability to anticipate the reactions of others and to adjust our behavior accordingly -whose work focused on the ways in which the mind and the self were developed as a result of social processes -argued that an individual comes to view himself or herself is based to a very large extent on interactions with others -Mead felt that an individual's reaction to a positive or negative reflection depended on who the 'other' was -greatest impact on a person's life were significant others while generalized others were the organized and generalized attitude of a social group -often shares the title of father of symbolic interactionism with Cooley and Erving Goffman.
Frankfurt School
A group of German social philosophers dedicated to understanding the role of culture and mass communication in the Nazi regime -critical theory -elaboration on Marxist principles
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
A social activist who traveled the United States and wrote about social changes. Translated Comte's work into English. Largely discounted because she was a woman. -including economics, social class, religion, suicide, government, and women's rights. -capitalism at odds with the professed moral principles of people in the United States -faults with the free enterprise system in which workers were exploited and impoverished while business owners became wealthy.
sociological imagination
Ability to see the connection between the larger world and our personal lives
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) (functionalism)
British, developed a system of philosophy based on the theory of evolution, believed in the primacy of personal freedom and reasoned thinking. Sought to develop a system whereby all human endeavours could be explained rationally and scientifically. -Functionalism- -argued that just as the various organs of the body work together to keep the body functioning, the various parts of society work together to keep society functioning (Spencer, 1898). -parts of society that Spencer referred to were the social institutions, or patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs, such as government, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the economy.
To a sociologist, the personal decisions an individual makes do not exist in a vacuum. What puts pressure on people to select one choice over another.
Cultural patterns, social forces and influences
Erving Goffman (1922-1982)
Dramaturgical approach: people seen as theatrical performers
Constructivism Theory
Emphasizes students' ability to solve real-life problems and make new meaning through reflection -proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be -We develop social constructs based on interactions with others, and those constructs that last over time are those that have meanings which are widely agreed-upon or generally accepted by most within the society -This approach is often used to examine what's defined as deviant within a society i.e. US finds wallet turns into authorities vs keeping (deviant) Eastern finds person that wallet belongs to vs turning it in to authorities (deviant)
Social institutions (examples)
Family, Government and economy, religion, education, health and medicine
Jane Addams (1860-1935)
Founder of Hull House (served needy immigrants through social and educational programs while providing extensive opportunities for sociological research) -Best-known for her work as a leader of the settlement house movement -Research conducted at Hull House informed child labor, immigration, health care, and other areas of public policy.
attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change.
Grand theories
dynamic equilibrium
In a healthy society, all parts work together to maintain stability, a state called
Sociologists study
Inequality in the modern world, Broad range of topics, Address social problems and, make the world a better place - social events, interactions, and patterns, and they develop theories to explain why things work as they do.
Conflict Theory
LEVEL OF ANALYSIS-Macro FOCUS-The way inequities and inequalities contribute to social, political, and power differences and how they perpetuate power. ANALOGIES-The ones with the most toys wins and they will change the rules to the games to keep winning. QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT BE ASKED-Does education transmit only the values of the most dominant groups?
Structional Functionalism
LEVEL OF ANALYSIS-Macro or Mid FOCUS-The way each part of society functions together to contribute to the functioning of the whole. ANALOGIES-How each organ works to keep your body healthy (or not.) QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT BE ASKED- How does education work to transmit culture?
Symbolic Interactionism
LEVEL OF ANALYSIS-Micro FOCUS-The way one-on-one interactions and communications behave. ANALOGIES-What's it mean to be an X? QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT BE ASKED-How do students react to cultural messages in school?
What seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and analysis of content sources (like books, magazines, journals, and popular media).
Qualitative sociology
What uses statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants. Researchers analyze data using statistical techniques to see if they can uncover patterns of human behavior.
Quantitative sociology
A group of people who live in a defined geographic area, who interact with one another, and who share a common culture is what sociologists call a
Society
What is the scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions, societies and social interactions, from small and personal groups to very large groups.
Sociology
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) (Functionalism)
Sociology as a separate science on the grounds that it has both an object (patterned regularities as a group distinct from that of individuals) and a substratum (society as a whole). - helped establish sociology as a formal academic discipline by establishing the first European department of sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895 and by publishing his Rules of the Sociological Method in 1895. -believed that sociologists could study objective social facts -Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a society (i.e. a society's laws may be to protect society from violence, while another is to punish criminal behavior, while another is to preserve public health) -He also believed that through such studies it would be possible to determine if a society was "healthy" or "pathological (breakdown of social norms)." -examined suicide statistics in different police districts to research differences between Catholic and Protestant communities. He attributed the differences to socio-religious forces rather than to individual or psychological causes.
culture
a group's shared practices, values, and beliefs
dynamic equilibrium
a stable state in which all parts of a healthy society work together properly
dramaturgical analysis
a technique sociologists use in which they view society through the metaphor of theatrical performance
hypothesis
a testable proposition
functionalism
a theoretical approach that sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals that make up that society
conflict theory
a theory that looks at society as a competition for limited resources
macro-level
a wide-scale view of the role of social structures within a society
a few theories provide broad perspectives that help explain many different aspects of social life, and these are called
paradigms
Critical Race Theory (CRT)
an academic discipline focused upon the application of critical theory. CRT critically examines society and culture, especially the intersection of race, law, and power. -grew out of a critical analysis of race and racism from a legal point of view - looks at structural inequality based on white privilege and associated wealth, power, and prestige
grand theories
an attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change
Reification
an error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence
reification
an error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real, material existence
constructivism
an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be
social institutions
patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs
Functionalism (sociology)
each part and how it contributes to the stability of the whole -e.g. social institutions fill a need: family, govt, economy, etc. -society like an organism -emphasis on consensus and order -when one part dysfunctional, lead to social change / change in social institutions to achieve stability. criticisms: -justified the status quo -agitating for social change undesirable (because compensation occurs naturally) Emile Durkheim
18th century concerns about social life
economic systems, the family, health and hygiene, national offense and defense
Sociological theory is constantly
evolving and should never be considered complete.
Ludwig Gumplowicz (Conflict theory)
expanded on Marx by proposing that society is shaped by war/conquest, and cultural/ethnic conflicts lead to certain groups becoming dominant over others
18th century, Enlightenment philosophers developed general principles that could be used to
explain social life.
qualitative sociology
in-depth interviews, focus groups, and/or analysis of content sources as the source of its data
Auguste Comte (1798-1857) French philosopher Claude Henri de Rouvroy Comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825).
invented what he called "social physics" or "positivism" - we could determine right and wrong without reference to higher powers or other religious concepts -also believed in the potential of social scientists to work toward the betterment of society. -held that once scholars identified the laws that governed society, sociologists could address problems such as poor education and poverty -sociologists still believe in the positive impact of their work.
Macro-level theories relate to
large-scale issues and large groups of people,
John Locke, François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire), Immanuel Kant, and Thomas Hobbes responded to what they saw as social ills by writing
on topics that they hoped would lead to social reform.
dysfunctions
social patterns that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society
Sociologists often study culture using the..
sociological imagination, which pioneer sociologist C. Wright Mills described as an awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience and the wider culture that shaped the person's choices and perceptions.
manifest functions
sought consequences of a social process
significant others
specific individuals that impact a person's life
quantitative sociology
statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants
Critical Theory
the Frankfurt School's members' theories focusing on the corrosive influence of capitalism on culture -an expansion of conflict theory and is broader than just sociology, incorporating other social sciences and philosophy - a holistic theory and attempts to address structural issues causing inequality. It must explain what's wrong in current social reality, identify the people who can make changes, and provide practical goals for social transformation -More recently, inequality based on gender or race has been explained in a similar manner and has identified institutionalized power structures that help to maintain inequality between groups
manifest functions
the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated -i.e. college education, for example, includes gaining knowledge, preparing for a career, and finding a good job that utilizes that education.
generalized others
the organized and generalized attitude of a social group
function
the part a recurrent activity plays in the social life as a whole and the contribution it makes to structural continuity
Figuration (Norbert Elias)
the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior
figuration
the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of an individual and the society that shapes that behavior
Theories vary in scope depending on
the scale of the issues that they are meant to explain.
positivism
the scientific study of social patterns
social solidarity
the social ties that bind a group of people together such as kinship, shared location, and religion
micro-level theories
the study of specific relationships between individuals or small groups
latent functions
the unrecognized or unintended consequences of a social process
latent functions
the unsought consequences of a social process -can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful. -Another latent function of education is creating a hierarchy of employment based on the level of education attained i.e. college years-meeting new people, participating in extracurricular activities, or even finding a spouse or partner.
antipositivism
the view that social researchers should strive for subjectivity as they worked to represent social processes, cultural norms, and societal values
micro-level theories look at
very specific relationships between individuals or small groups.
Ma Tuan-Lin (13th century)
was the first to record, in his seminal encyclopedia titled General Study of Literary Remains, the social dynamics underlying and generating historical development.
In sociology, a theory is a
way to explain different aspects of social interactions and to create a testable proposition, called a hypothesis, about society
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797)
wrote about women's conditions in society -Like Harriet Martineau and Jane Addams, her works were long ignored by the male academic structure, but since the 1970s, Wollstonecraft has been widely considered the first feminist thinker of consequence. -
