Sociology- the study of social behavior and human groups

Focuses on

• social relationships

• How those relationships influence people’s behavior

• How societies - the sum total of these relationships- develop and change

Sociological imagination- an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past.

• A key element is viewing society from an outsider’s perspective.

• Going beyond personal experiences to understand broader public issues.

Sociologists study-

• The influence that society has on people’s attitudes and behaviors.

• The ways people interact and shape society.

Commonsense knowledge is not always reliable.

Sociologists believe information must be tested, recorded, and analyzed.

Scientific studies are used to describe and understand the social environment.

Theory- a set of statements that seeks to explain problems, actions, or behaviors.

Emile Durkheim-

• Appointed as one of the first sociology professors of France.

• Key interest focused on the consequences of work in modern societies.

• developed a theory to explain how an individual behavior (Ex. Suicide) can be understood within a social context.

• Argued that behavior must be understood with a larger social context.

• Was also concerned about alienation, loneliness, and isolation in modern industrial societies.

Anomie - the loss of direction felt in society when social control of individual behavior has become ineffective

• Occurs during times of profound social change

• People lose sense of purpose and direction

Max Weber-

• Argued that to comprehend behavior we must learn the subjective meanings people attach to their actions

• Weber’s work was a response to the work of Karl Marx

Verstehen- German word for understanding or insight

Ideal Type- model or construct for evaluating specific cases

Karl Marx-

• Argued that society is divided between two classes that clash in pursuit of their interests

  • Owners vs Workers

  • Economic, social, and political relationships allowed owners to maintain power and dominance over workers

• Wrote The Communist Manifesto with Friedrich Engels

• Masses of the people, the proletariat, should overthrow capitalist societies

• His writing inspired others who would later lead communist revolutions in China, Cuba, Russia, and other countries.

• His work emphasized how group identifications can influence an individual’s place in society.

W.E.B. DuBois-

• Was an early black sociologist in the United States.

• Argued that knowledge was essential to fighting prejudice and achieving tolerance.

  • Advocated research on the lives of Black people in the United States

  • Helped found the NAACP

Double Consciousness- division of an individual’s identity into two or more social realities.

Charles Horton Cooley-

• Used the sociological perspective to study face-to-face groups such as families, gangs, and friendship networks

Jane Addams-

• Co-founded the Hull House

• Worked to establish a juvenile court system and a women’s trade union.

Robert Merton-

• Developed a key to theory to explain deviant behavior

• Emphasized the need to being together macro-level and micro-level sociological approaches

Macrosociology- focuses on large-scale phenomena or entire civilizations

Microsociology- focuses on small groups

Meseosociology- studies formal groups and social movements

Global sociology- makes comparisons among nations

Pierre Bourdieu-

• Wrote about the different forms of capital

• Capital sustains one generation to the next

Cultural Capital- non-economic goods that are reflected in knowledge of languages and the arts.

Social Capital- the collective benefit of social networks, which are built on reciprocal trust.

Functionalist Perspective- emphasizes how the parts of society are structured to maintain social stability

Talcott Parsons-

• Key sociologist in the functionalist perspective

• Viewed society as a network of connected parts

  • Each part helps maintain the social system

Manifest Functions- the open, stated, and conscious functions of institutions

Latent Functions- the unintended consequences of institutions

• May reveal hidden purposes

Dysfunctions- elements or processes of society that can disrupt the social system or reduce stability

Conflict Perspective- assumes social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or allocation of resources

• Forms of tension can include Labor negotiations, party politics, competition for religious group membership, and budget disputes.

• Based on the work of Karl Marx

Conflict theorists-

• Focus on how social institutions maintain privilege and subservience of different groups.

• Emphasize social change

• Emphasize the redistribution of resources

• Are more radical than functionalists

Feminist Perspective- inequity in gender is central to all behavior and organization.

• The focus tends to be on the macro level

• Women’s subordination is inherent in capitalist societies

Intersectionality- the interlocking matrix of domination.

• multiple social factors such as gender, race, age, sexual orientation, and religion help determine privilege and lack of privilege.

Queer Theory- the study of society from the perspective of a broad spectrum of sexual identities including heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality.

• Foucault wrote that what is acceptable human sexuality varies between cultures and periods of time

• Segdwick argued that analyzing society is incomplete without including sexual identities

Interactionist Perspective- generalizes about everyday forms of social interaction to explain society as a whole

• Humans are viewed as living in a world of meaningful objects including material things, actions, other people, relationships, and symbols.

  • Symbols are especially important to this perspective

    • Central to communication

    • Have a shared meaning among all members of society

Nonverbal Communication- gestures, facial expressions, and postures.

• All express meaning.

George Herbert Mead-

• Founder of the interactionist perspective

• Wanted sociologists to focus more on the micro level of behavior

Erving Goffman-

• Developed the dramaturgical approach, in which people are seen as theatrical performers.

• Compared everyday life to the settings of the theater and stage.

• Presentation of self in public and private settings