Sociology

Emile Durkheim

Found the first european department of sociology in france in 1890

when it became an academic displine

sociologist existed before this but they included theology and evolutionary ideas

Early Sociology

interested in social good

Sociology was developed as a way to study and try to understand the changes to society brought on by the industrial revolution

Western Europe in the 1800s

IR, SR, enlightenment, imperialism/colonialism, urbanization, no labor laws, public health concerns

Sociologies Cousins

econ, psych, geography, com, anthro, history, politics

Psych v. Soc

Psych→ in the brain/body

soc→ outside the body

both studies of hb from different perspectives

history v. soc

history: specifics on how things unfold over times

Soc: broad, looking for pattterns

ex: French Rev v. Revolution

Anthro v. soc

anthro: orginated from colonialism as European cultures came into contact with different cultures

soc: originated from Industrial and scientific revolution

Econ v. Soc

econ: people act in their best self interest

Soc: dont take that as a given; people can act irrationally

difference in how they interpret human behavior

Sociology

the study of how societies are organized and how the organization of a society shapes the behavior of the people living in it.

The sociological imagination

The capacity to think about our own personal experience in relation to a larger set of social forces that influence every aspect of our lives, whether they are visible to us or not.

troubles v. issues

troubles→ private challenges

issues → challenges that transcend local environments of the individual and his life

• social challenges

• macrolevel

why did the teenage wasteland tragedy occur

how the kids were labeled in the school and in media

how the community was structured

identity markers that they attached themselves to (rock music)

not prepared for future bc they were shot off from oppurtunities

Suicide in the US

more male than female deaths due to suicide

more female attempts but less deaths due to suicide

due to method use

• gender norms

• higher social risk if men dont succeed

What is the nature of society

well oiled machine→ functionalism

competing interest → conflict theory

group of people interacting→ symbolic interactionalism

macro paradigms

functionalism and conflict theory

micro paradigms

symbolic interactionalism

macro

society as a whole

micro

how external pressures shape internal

Structural functionalism

emile durkheim

society is seen as a complex system whose parts work together to promote stability and social order

main question of structural functionalism

what holds a society together

Mechanical solidarity

pre-modern/agrian

solidarity from collective consciousness: cohesion through speaking the same language, eating the same food, doing the same work, etc

Organic solidarity

modern → division of labor

solidarity through interdependence: different systems/jobs that work together to keep everything thogether

Manifest functions

intended functions

Latent functions

unintended functions

dysfunction

any social pattern that disrupts the smooth operations of society

conflict theory

karl marx

society is seen as a system where various groups struggle over scarce resources

Marx on Class Conflict

owner (bourgeoise) v. worker (proliteriate)

owners own resources while workers own their labor that is exchanged for wages

Owners lower workers wages to keep workers from fighting back against them

Sociology in America

Pioneering the study of race and gender conflict

Heterogeneity → differences among those within a group

Jane Addams and WEB Du Bois

Jane Addams

Hull House and ACLLU

1st women to win a Nobel Peace Prize

pioneered participitized community based research

gender based inequality

WEB Du Bois

NAACP

Wanted to understand teh experiences of black america

Different social classes, social, and religious beliefs among POC

Scholarly conversation with Marx

Marx believed slaves and poor whites should have come together to stand up and fight back

Du Bois explains psychological wages

• Poor whites saw themselves as distinct from POC which is why they never came together

Symbolic Interactionalism

Micro Paradignm

Society is seen as the product of everyday interaction

who came up with symbolic interactionalism

influenced by max weber

developed by the Chicago School of American Sociologists (George Herbert Mead and Herbert Blumer)

Social

anytime action is oriented towards others

can still be alone to be social → thinking how others will think about your outfit

symbols

can have different meanings in different parts of the world or in different periods of time

we give symbols meaning

tenants of symbolic interactionalism

1. People act towards things based on the meaning they ascibe to objects

2. Meanings emerge within social interactions

3. Meanings are handeled and modified through interpretation in specific situations

summary

functionalism → social purpose

conflict theory→ power and inequality

symbolic interactionalism → rules and meaning

functionalism and society

An interdependent system that strives for balance

functionalism and social change

By discarding parts that don’t work

functionalism and social behavior

Motivated by the need for groups and society to maintain social stability

functionalism and individuals

People are socialized to perform societal functions

functionalism weakness

difficulty explaining change

conflict theory and society

The result and cause of conflict

conflict theory and social change

The result of conflict

conflict theory and social behavior

Motivated by competition for social resources

conflict theory and individuals

People are shaped by power, coercion, and authority

conflict theory weakness

Difficulty explaining stability

symbolic interactionism and society

The result of social interaction; maintained by shared understanding

symbolic interactionlism and social change

The result of social interaction

symbolic interactionism and social behavior

Explained by how people define and experience social interaction

symbolic interactionism and individuals

People manipulate symbols and create their social worlds through interaction

symbolic interactionism weakness

Difficulty explaining macro-phenomenon

Dramaturgical

theory conceptualizes the world as a stage

Front stage

where we perform a role in relation to an audience (society) and out performance (behavior) is open to judgement by those who observe it

back stage

where the actors can polish and refine their performance without revealing themselves to their audience

impression management

the processes by which actors attempt to control how others perceive them

impression formation

process of inferring meaning about others from gestures, symbols, etcs

social constructionism

examines the development of jointly constructed understanding

time before industrialization

daylight, moon phases, sun dial

time after industrialization

clock

change occurred so worker could get to factory on time (capitalist logic), need for routine, time zones)

who/what constructs time

church and gov

time in the post-industrial world

construct of time is changing

nightime= screen time

talking to people all around the world

Structure v. Agency w/ Culture

Culture is the water

shapes our experiences even if it is invisible

symbols are displayed through

rituals

how did emile durkheim define rituals

routenized and highly important group activities

giving a community its specific character

Culture is everything we

make and consume

our ideas, attributes, traditions, and practices

What are the four types of culture

material culture

high culture

symbolic culture

popular culture

material culture

physical good placed in an economic system

high culture

cultural goods made for and consumed by elite groups

symbolic culture

non-material beliefs, values, language, and rituals

popular culture

heavily produced and commercialized good produced for and consumed by a large audience

values

moral beliefs

collective conceptions of what is considered good, desireable, and proper

norms

unwritten rules and expectations by which a society guides the behaviors of it members

culture as practice

cultural toolkit

code switching

cultural toolkit

refers to sets of beliefs, values and attitudes that we learn to use in different situations

Ann Swindler

Code Switching

adopting a set of informal rules and manners that are appropriate in a specific setting

Elijah Anderson

we learn social norms through

socialization

socialization

the experiences that give us an identify and teach us the values, morals, beliefs, and ways of acting/thinking that are expected in our society

agents of socialization

peers, parents, teachers, mass media

socialized is a

life long process

majority is when you are young

however, you must learn new social rules in new spaces even when you are older (new jobs, schools, and retirement homes)

Deviance

a behavior, trait, belief or other characteristic that violates a norm

what are the 3 types of norms

folkways, mores, laws

folkways

customs, traditions, and etiquette that guides casual interaction and where deviance leads to relatively minor sanctions

shaking hands

mores

deeper sense of moral values where deviance produces more significant sactions

infidelity

laws

formal rules established by a political authority

deviances result in formal legal punishment

speed limits, theft, assault

Sanctions

anything that people to do encourage conforming to a social norm

Formal v. Informal sanctions

formal→ formal mechanism to increase conformity to norms

informal→ informal mechanisms to increase conformity to norms

positive v. negative sanctions

positive→ rewards for conforming to norms

negative→ punishment for not conforming to norms

formal, positive sanctions

awards, raise

informal, positive

compliments, applause

formal negative

jail, expulsion

informal, negative

shunning, bullying, booing

Strain theory

the mismatch of goals and means may lead some to adapt by engaging in deviant behaviors

drug dealing to achieve financial success

structural inequality nad blocked opportunities

Differential association theory

deviance is a learned behavior

learning to shoplift from peers

labeling theory

deviance is created through reactions to an act

student repeatedly labeled troublemaker internalizes label and escalated deviance

stigma and identiy formation

method

a study design

allows us to systematically study the world

makes our conclusions more reliable and replicable

Nuremberg Codes

•Participation should be voluntary, and subjects can stop participating at any time

•Researchers should avoid unnecessary physical and mental suffering

•Any risk to subjects has to be considered in light of the study's potential benefits to society

•If the project poses serious risks to human subjects, it should end immediately

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

•Researchers lied to the men about their diagnosis. Gave them the impression they were getting useful treatments, when these were often just tests to gather data that didn’t in any way help the men.

•Doctors didn’t reveal the option of penicilin and continued to lie to the men about their diagnosis because they wanted to study how syphilis would progress if left untreated.

•Men suffered complications and some died.

•Also infected their female partners, who then also didn’t get treatment and sometimes died.

This study led to expanded rules and regulations about ethical research

Institutional Review Board

approves study and makes sure it is ethical

5 steps of research

1. research question

2. state your hypothesis

3. gather data

4. analyze data

5. develop conclusions