Unit 1 The sociological perspectives

Sociology is the systematic study of social behavior and human group’s . (humans are self-
aware)

The sociological perspective is an approach to understanding human behavior by placing it

within a broader social context .At the center of the sociological perspective is the question of
how people influenced by their society .

A society is a group of people who share a culture and territory .

To find out why people do what they do, Sociology looks at the social location, where people are
located in a particular society,

Sociology and other sciences

A science is the application of systematic methods obtain knowledge and the knowledge
obtained by those methods

There are two kinds of sciences

1. Natural sciences: the intellectual and academic disciplines designed to comprehend,

explain and predict events in our in natural world. Examples of natural sciences are
physics, biology chemistry etc.
2. Social sciences :the intellectual and academic disciplines designed to understand the
social world
Examples are political sciences, economic anthropology.

Goals of sociology
1.Explain why things happen
2.Make generalizations about events
3.Predict the likely hood of an event occurring

Development of Sociology
1. Industrial revolution by the mid-19th century .Europe was shifting from being an
agriculturally based society to a more industrially one.
2. Imperialism was a second factor in that as Europe was expanding its geographical
conquests, they came across people of different cultures.
3. Development in the natural sciences also promoted social sciences to come up with
ways to explain social phenomena
Time line for the Development of Sociology

1.Auguste comte 1798-1857

The French man is also known as the founding father of sociology.
.First used the term sociology to refer to the study of society.
The idea of applying the scientific method to the social world was through what he
termed as positivism

2.Herbert Spencer 1820-1903

He is the second founding father of sociology, he grew up in England

He believed that the societies operate according to fixed laws and move from”
barbaric “to more civilized societies
He was a social Darwinist

3.Karl Marx 1818-1883

According to him,the engine of the society is driven by the conflict between the
owners of the means of productions-bourgeoisies and the worker proletariat.

The bitter struggler can be only end when the workers unite to overthrough the
owners of the means of production to create a classless society.

The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles
Freemen and slave ,patrician and plebian ,lord and serf ,guild –master (3) and journey
man,in a word,oppressor and oppressed,stood in constant opposition to one
another,carried on an uninterrupted,now hidden,now open flight ,a fight that each
time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstruction of the society at large ,or in the
common ruin of the contending classes.

4.Emile Durkheim 1858-1917

He has a primary goal of getting sociology recognized as a separate academic disciple
.He also had the goal of studying how individual behavior is shaped by a social
forces.One of his enduring studies was on suicide .he found that suicide rates are
different from nation to nation even within a nation.

Durkheim identified that social integration which is the degree to which people are
tied to their social groupas a key social factor in suicide.
Anomie is a condition of society in which people become detached, cut loose from
the norms that usually guide their behavior.

It is Durkheim who clearly established the logic of the functional approach to the
study of social phenomenaalthough functional explanations it will be recalled, play a
major part in Spencer ‘s approach, and the lineaments of functional reasoning were
already discernible in the work of Comte. In particular, Durkheim set down a
clear distinction between historical and functional types of inquiry and between
functional consequences and individual motivations.

Max Weber-1864-1920

Most important contributions. To sociology was the study of the rise of capitalism.
He argued that religions one of the most important factors in the rise of capitalism .He
contrasted the catholic and protestant belief system in the development of capitalism.
In his
Effort to escape from the individualizing and particularizing approach of German
Geisteswissenschaft and historicism, weber developed a key conceptual tool, the
notionof the ideal type. It will be recalled that weber argued that no scientific
System isever capable of reproducing all concrete reality,not can any conceptual
apparatus ever do full justice to the infinite diversity of particular phenomena. All
science involves selections as well as abstraction. Yet the social scientist can easily
be caught in a dilemma when he chooses his conceptual apparatus. When his concepts
are very general as when he attempts to explain capitalism or Protestantism by
subsuming them under the general concepts of economic or religion he is likely to
leave out what is most of the historian and particularizes the phenomenon under
discussion, he allows no room for comparisons with related phenomena. The motion
of the ideal typewas meant to provide escape from this dilemma.
An ideal type never corresponds to concrete reality but always moves at least one step
away from it .It is constructed out of certain elements of reality and forms a logically
precise and coherent whole, which can never be found as such in that reality .There
has never been a full empirical embodiment of the protestant ethnic, of the”
charismatic leader”. Or of the exemplary prophet.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
A theory is a general statement about some parts of the world fit together and how
they work an explanation of how two or more focus are related to one another .
 Sociologistsuse 3 major theories in explaining human behavior

SYMBOLIC INTERACTION
They view symbols i.ethings to which we attach meaning as an basis of a social life
symbol’s re important because
1. Without symbols our social interactions would be limited and ineffective.
2. Symbols help us coordinate our actions with others and enables us plan for the
future
3. There would be no books, movies, schools etc.
4.The self which is an important part of one’s personality is a symbol
Culture plays a significant role in how we construct and interpret symbol e.g. Marriage love,
divorce. Etc

2.Functionalism /structure functionalism

The central idea is that society is a which unit made up of different parts which should work to
the good of the whole to create homeostasis

Comte and Spencer likened society to a human body and state that just like the body has
different parts that perform different functions so does the society

These functions are two fold Latent and manifest

If an action is intended to help some part of the system, it’s called manifest function and if it’s
unintended then it is called latent,.

3.Conflict

Stresses that society is made of two groups that are struggling for scarce resources. The two
groups are the owners of the means of production and the workers.

DEFINATIONS BY THE DIFFERENT SOCIOLOGISTS.

1. Auguste comte : founding father of sociology subject to natural and invariable laws ,the
discovery of which is the object of investing

2. Kingsley Davis: Sociology is a general science of society

3. Harry .M. Johnson deals with the social groups

4. Emile Durkheim: sociology deals with the social institutions

5. Park: sociology deals with the science of collective behavior

6. Marshall Jones: sociology deals with the study with the man in relationship to men

7.Ogburn and Nimskoff :the study of scientific study of social life.

NATURE OF SOCIOLOGY

1.Sociology is an independence science ,2.Sociology is a social science and not a physical

science,3 Sociology is a categorical and a normative Discipline ,4sociology is a pure science
and not an applied science ,5.sociology is relatively an abstract science and not a concrete
science ,6.sociology is a generalizing and not a particularizing or individuating science

7. Sociology is a general is science and not a special social science

8. Sociology is both the arational and empirical science

USES OF SOCIOLOGY

1. Society studies society in a scientific way

2. Sociology throws more light on the social nature of man

3. Sociology improves our understanding of the society and increase the power of social action

4. The study of sociology helps us to know not only our society and men but also others

5. The need for the study of sociology is greater especially in underdeveloped countries

SOME BRANCHES OF SOCIOLGY

1.Historical sociology has emerged as one of the branches of sociology .In the sense ,all
sociological research is historical for the sociologists normally go into the records pertaining to
the events that have happened or have been observed ,The term historical sociology is ,however
usually applied the study of social facts which more than fifty years old .

Sociology of knowledge: is one of the recently emerged branches of sociology .This branches
presupposes the idea that our knowledge is in the measure a social product .

Sociology of the law looks at law and legal systems is a part of the society and also as a social
institution related to other institutions and changing with that them .

What has sociology got to do with me or with my life ,As a student .you might well have asked
this question when you signed up for your introductory sociology you signed up for your
introductory sociology course .To answer it ,consider these points .Are you influences by what
you see on the television .DO you use the internet ?Do you vote in the last election ? Are you
familiar with the binge drinking on the campus ?Do you use alternative medicine ?These are the
just few of the every day life situations described in this book that sociology can shed light on
.But as the opening excerpt indicates ,sociology also looks at large social issues .We use
sociology to investigate why thousands of jobs have moved from the united states to developing
nations.what social forces promote prejudice ,what leads someone to join a social movement and
work for the social change ,how access to computer technology can reduce social inequality ,

Socology is very simple ,the systematic study of a social behavior and human groups ,It focus
on the social relationships ,how those relationships influence people’s behavior ,and how
societies .the sum total of those relationships develop and change

The sociological imagination

An awareness of the relationship between an individual and wider society

Eg: sport events, on the college campus in the US thousands of students cheer well trained foot
ball players.

The sociological imagination allows us to go beyond personal experiences and observations to

understand broader public issues .Divorce is an unquestionable experience .the sociological
experience is an empowering tool.

You are walking down the street in your city or home town .In looking around you .you can’t
help noticing that half or more of the people you see are over weight .how do you explain your
observation ?how do you think you would explain it

UNIT 2 CULTURE

Culture is defined as the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs , knowledge ,materials
objects and behavior. Culture is the totality of values, beliefs, way of life and even material
possession passed from one generation to the next by use if symbols .Culture is the product of
the of interaction to the next use of symbols .Culture is the product of the interaction ,both
materials and non-materials.(meanings, beliefs, values ideas, norms, etc.
It includes the ideas the value , customs,artifacts

Society is the largest form of human group.

Attitudes towards culture

 Ethnocentrism :The tendency to assume that one’s own culture and the way of life
represent the norm or superior to all the other culture
 Cultural Relativism: allows us to view people from the perspective of their own culture.

Culture is :
 Shared
 Learned
 Intergenerational

A Human construction thousands of years in the making: Biology (brains, hand, vocal )

Universal: practices at general level languages ,food ,housing, sport, families, etc Vs variation at
the specific level. Insults in various cultures.

Culture as a stable system:

 It is our world ,taken as natural (house smells)

 Resists change
 Cultural lag: material Vs .Non –material culture.

Elements of non materials culture

1.languages:

This is a system of a symbols that can be strung together in an infinite number of ways for the
purpose of communicating abstract thought .

Language proceeds thought in that is influenced behavior and interpretation of social reality .The
importance of language is as follows :

1. Provides a social or shared past

2. Provides social a social or shared future

3. Allows shared perspectives or understanding

2. Norms

These are established standards of behavior that develops out of a group’s values
3.Sanctions

Are expressions of disapproval given to people for upholding or violating

4.Values

Norms that are not strictly enforced are called folkways .While Mores are those strictly enforced

US core values

1.Acievement and success

2.Individualism
3.Activity and work
4.Science and technology
5.Humanitarianism
6.Democracy
7.Equality
Cultural universals :

This is a value ,norm or other cultural trait that is found in every group

Animals and culture

The debate of whether animals do have aculture has been of interest to sociology .Astudy done
by Gcodall in 1957 provides some answers .She lives in the remote areas of Tanzania to study
chimpanzees and for thirty years she did just that .She found the following :

1.Wild chimpanzees made and used tools that is ,modified object s and used them for specific
purposes
2.have a shared culture ,that is ,they continue to share with the young one what is expected of
them
3.Even if animals may not
Cultural change aLag
Cultural lag is a term used by Williams Ogburn for the situation which non material culture lags
is a term changes in material culture .

Cultural changes

 Innovation : The process of Introducing new elements into a culture through either
discovery or invention .
 Discovery
 Intervention
 Diffusion
UNIT 3 : SOCIALIZATION

This is a process through which one learns attitudes, values and behaviors appropriate within
cultural context which help one develop distinctive personality (attitudes, temperament,
needs etc.

The role of socialization

What makes us who we arIs ite? the genes we are born with? Or the environment in which
we grow up? Researchers have traditionally clashed over the relative importance of
biological inheritance and environmental factors in Human development a conflict called the
nature Vs Nurture or Heredity Vs environment.

Environment: The Impact of Isolation the case of Gene

C.H COOLEY: LOOKING –GLASS SELF

Looking glass self is used to describe the process by which a sense of self developers .The
looking glass self has 3 elements:

1. We imagine how we appear to those around us .

2. We interpret other’s reactions
3. We develop a self concept.
G.H .MEAD:
Use the concept of role taking to explain the development of self .In play children learn to
take the role of the other,that is to put themselves in someone else shoes to understand how
someone else feels and thinks and to anticipate how the person will act. As they develop this
ability at first children are able to take only the role of significant others that is, individuals
who significantly influence their lives.

To take on the ability to take on roles eventually extends to being able to take the role of an
abstract entity ,the group as a whole. Mead calls the perception of how people in general
think of us as a generalized other.

Learning to take the role of the other goes through 3 stages

1.Imitation children under 3 can only mimic and don’t understand the meaning of these
gestures
2.Play during the second stage from between 3-6 children take specific
Roles of specific people
3 .with the early Games –that begins with the early schoolyearswhen organized teams.
 Mead alsodistinguishing between

The I(subject)and the Me(Object) in the development of the self

Piagent and the development of reasoning skills

The question that intrigued Jean pageant was how reasoning skills develop. She noticed that
children would give consistent wrong answers intelligent tests. The means that children follow
some sort of incorrect rule in figuring out answer.

She suggests thatthere are 4 stages in the development on reasoning skills

1.Sensormortorstage birth to 2years

2.The preoperational stage 2-7years

3.Concrete operational 7-12 years

4.Formal stage after the age of 12 years

Sensorimortoro.2 sensory and physical contact ,no language thinking ,little differentiation self
/world discovers feet ,no sense of results of their acts object permanence

Preoperational 2-7,lack ability to do simple mental operations, no understanding of abstract

concepts speed, weight, value, bigger is heavier ,nickel more than dime, water and container
volume ,trees waving makes the wind ,today is my birthday Vs Wednesday .Like Mead
egocentric can’t take perspective of other How many brothers do you have how many does your
brothers have –back to Mead

Concrete operational 7-12 reason about concrete situations but not abstract or hypothetical
,basic adult function :calculate causality ,quantity BUT NOT death, justice etc. in abstract only
tired to specific experience ,Develops sense of others perspective ,Back to Mead

Format Operational adolescence, abstract thought, theories, hypothesis, mortality, goals, able
alternative social relations, philosophic reasoning ,and questioning: If God why evil ,if parents
know best why do they make mistakes.

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION

These social group and organizations profoundly shape our sense of self: Weemerge as
individuals within their midst .As Social being we are always a part of the social context in
which we find ourselves.

Family Primary, informal introduction into society ,unconscious training .habit training impose
schedules.
School functional formal, awareness ofothers, Values .

Peergroups:Significant in individual society.

Work place : full time and adult hood Introduction to adult reality .

Mass media: Homogenization

Resocialization is the process of learning new norms ,values ,attitudes ,and behavior .Intense
resocialization takes place in total institutions .Most resocialization is voluntary

UNIT 4.DEVIANCE AND SOCIAL CONTROL

Deviance is aterm that refers to any violations of norms.

Deviance is relative from one society to the next in that what may viewed deviant in this
society may not be the next.

To be considered a deviant, a person may not even have to do anything sociologist Erving
GOFFMAN
used the term stigma to refer to attributes that discredit people. These attributes include
the violaters of norms of ability (blindness ,deafness) and norms of appearance(a facial
birthmark obesity ) ,They also include involuntary memberships in groups such as being
the victim of AIDS or the brother of rapists. The stigma becomes a person’s master status
,defining him or her as deviant .
Who defines Deviance ?
If Deviance lies not in the act but definition of act ,who then does define it ?
In both Tribal and Industrial societies ,each has a defined set of what they consider
deviant and to enforce what is good they each have groups set up techniques of social
control.
Social control is a group’s formal and informal means of enforcing its norms

Functionalism and social control :Functionalists stress how the many groups in a
pluralistic society co-exist .each enforces its own norms of its members and the groups
more or less attain a more or less balanced state. This view of mediation and balance
among competing

Functionalism :Emile Durkheim argues that deviance is the functionalism to society in

the following ways :
1.Devianceclarifies moral boundaries and affirm norms
2.Deviance promotes social unity
3.It promotes social change .
Conflict perspective
Karl Marx looks at the power and social inequality as the primary characteristics of every
society. They stress that the state’s machinery of social control represent the interests of
the more affluent members of the society .
Reactions to Deviance
1. Sanctions
2. Degrading ceremonies
3.imprisonment.