Emile Durkheim

1858-1916

father of sociology

Suicide 

(Emile Durkheim)

this act related to social forces

-how much one is integrated into a group

-degree to which one's life follows routines

normlessness

(as related to suicide)

-major cause

-results in drastic changes in one's life

division of labor

-the degree to which jobs are specialized

-helps to determine social solidarity/how social cohesion is maintained

-sameness is what holds people together

-like cogs on a machine

-functions like organs in a body, each w/specific role

-body/society needs all organs to function properly

-believed by Durkheim to be much stronger than mechanical solidarity b/c people are interdependent, can't just give up

-this viewpoint leads to structural functionalism

-grown off organicism

-social institutions exist to serve important functions to keep society running

-naturally pulls towards equilibrium, one thing needs to work harder to fix another

-when something is wrong, it has to be fixed

-intended function of something

ex.

WSU's manifest function is to educate

-hidden, unintentional

ex. 

WSU helps students to find friends/spouses

-what function does something fill?

-how is something functional/dysfunctional

-what are the manifest/latent functions of something?

-Where are there problems?

-What's not functioning properly

-What needs to be fixed?

pros.

structural functionalism

-easy to understand b/c of body metaphor

-allows us to identify problems

-explains how one thing messes everything up

cons.

structural functionalism

-doesn't tell us how to fix a problem

-too simplistic

-doesn't describe social change

-doesn't take into account inter-society interaction

Karl Marx

1818-83

provided basis for communism

history of change in society

What drives change?

-certain period of time marked by special events/features

ex. His workds began an epoch of peace.

from each according to his abilities,

to each according to his needs

-conflict among competing interests is basic force of society

-conflict is what drives social change

-change can only occur through revolution/war

-baby steps or evolution can't create change

-conflict exists btn. classes in a society due to political struggles

-inequality in society isn't fair

roman empire: masters, slaves

middle ages: lords, serfs

industrial rev: bourgeoisie, proletariat

hegemony

(in conflict theory)

-What groups are in conflict?

-What are the scarce resources they are fighting over?

-How is power being maintained?

-What are the hegemonic beliefs?

recognizes social change

explains how it happens

-tells us how we should feel (that our labor is being used, we are being oppressed)

-pessimistic

-uncomfortable

-doesn't explain non-conflict change

-everything is subjective

-no one version of history that is correct

-all "facts" are up for debate

-pessimistic

-like lenses to look through

-help us interpret, make connections, predictions,etc.

certain research methods work better

with certain theories

macro-level theory: quantitative

micro-level theory: qualitative

-like a common language

-encourages skeptical/logical thinking

-allows us to test things

-can use established social theories to understand world better

-interviews

-rich data

-small sample size

-lots of writing, few numbers

-can't be generalized to larger populations

grounded theory

(used in qualitative research)

-researcher goes in w/few assumptions/hypotheses

-theory/info emerges simply from observed data

-survey

-census

-large samples

-statistical analysis 

-can be generalized to larger populations

raport

(research methods)

-qualitative: little work at beginning, lot of work analyzing at end of study

-quantitative: lot of time to prepare survey, little work to type in data, compare it

-removal of bias from research

-used to be goal of all researchers 

-multiple claims, multiple perspectives, some degree of truth

ex. blind mand/elephant

all men are right, experiencing diff things

-investigates something new

-qualitative methods

-updates something already known

-more precise

ex. U.S. census done every 10 years

-study can be replicated w/similar results

-study measures what it was supposed to

ex. when u ask people if they are racist, the answers that you get are indicating how socially acceptable it is to be racist, because people don't answer honestly

ways to protect research participants from harm

(research ethics)

-voluntary participation

-informed consent

-anonymity, confidentiality

-honest reporting

-can opt out at any time

-no coercion 

-anonymity can't always be guaranteed b/c someone sees you take study, participate, etc.

-confidentiality must be promised

-broad ideas that most members of a society share

individualism

opposite of this is communalism

(predominant in China)

-don't tell us exactly how to behave

-using these we can evaluate the "goodness" "rightness" "worth" of people

-expressed in a culture's stories, language, myths, etc.

-another contributor to structural functionalism

-didn't agree that poverty was a necessary thing

-each thing has functions and dysfunctions

-poverty is a dysfunction of society

ex.                 What function does FB fill?

            How is FB functional/dysfunctional?

            What are the manifest and latent functions of FB?

When there area social probs. What is not functioning properly? What needs to be done?

-proletariat class would bond over their oppression

-sympathetic bourgeoisie member would help lead revolution

-proletariat leadership would = socialist society

-many ideas. all have in common that women are subordinate 

-emphasizes = btn. men & women

-defines gender and sex

-cornerstone of a society

-complexity separates humans/animals

cultural universals

-patterns that occur in all known societies

marriages

funerals

kinship systems

--position someone fills in society--

ex.

teacher

doctor

parent

son

-status we can't control

ex.

age

gender

race

-status we identify most with, carries primary weight

ex.

career

parent

set of expectations assigned to status

ex.

roles of being a student are studying, graduating

-roles of different status interfere

ex.

roles of student and employee are conflicting

-becoming part of your social world

-includes acquiring knowledge, language, values, behaviors

-lifelong process, helps deal w/new settings

social learning theory

(theories of socialization)

-pos/neg reinforcement

-conditioning

-observational learning

-socialization occurs in unison w/child's dev. stages

-child can't learn something until he's developmentally ready to

symbolic interactionism

Max Weber

(sociological perspective on socialization)

-focuses on development of the self

-focuses on reflective behavior

-observing own behavior from someone else's perspective

-thought process, not actual behavior

ex. job interview, you may think what your outfit would look like to the employer

verstehen

Max Weber

interpret/understand the world through experience

-be able to understand from someone else's p.o.v.

-walk in someone else's shoes, etc.

Weber suggested: to understand why people act the way they do, must understand meanings that people attach to their actions

-belief in predestination drives protestants

-two major values are success & frugality

-both needed for capitalism

-scientist should keep HIS OWN values out of work

-not same as objectivity b/c that is removing ALL bias

symbolic interactionism

(microsociology)

shared meanings, orientations, assumptions form basic motivation behind people's actions

-We respond to things/events in society based on the meanings we attach to them

Blumer

(symbolic interactionism)

-people act in response to the meaning of symbols/social signs hold for them

ex. people stop at a red light. 

social construction

symbols we have placed meaning on

-what meanings are attached to this thing?

-how are people constructing meaning, roles in this setting?

-how are individuals in a given setting being affected by larger social issues?

-not concrete, vague

-we don't share certain symbols

-micro-level

-hands-on

values

beliefs

behaviors

social norms

everything that's a part of constructed environment

-technology

-fashion

-

-our language influences the way we think about the world

-constrains how we understand, restricts how we explain

ex. if our language has 20 words for camel, camel's must be a very important part of our life

-lives in same territory

-same culture

-how values tell us to act

-punishment of breaking a norm

-severity comparable to norm broken

-punishment given to us by others

ex. jail time, rehab, anger management, etc.

-punishment we impose on ourself

ex. embarassment

-little norm

-easily broken

-small sanction to go along with it

-larger norm

-connected to values

-large sanction

ex. 

-very large norm

-based on important values

-extreme sanction

-not even supposed to think about doing this

ex. cannibalism

-norm that is written down & given specific sanction

-can be folkway, more, taboo

-sanctions given out by government

ex. shoplifting, rape, etc.

- we need to use sociological imagination

to connect world around us to larger focuses of history

ability to connect individual's life to historical forces

-allows us to shift from one perspective to another

sociological imagination

What does it compare

social issues (history)

personal issues (biography)

individuals affect history just as history affects individuals

-2-way street

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism:

-protestant revolution layed ground for capitalism

-riches were seen now as a sign of divide

providence (care/guidance)

-verstehen

the study of social meaning

came from Weber's emphasis on subjectivity

George Herbert Mead

Charles Horton Cooley

"social self"

"social self" 

-stemming from Mead, Cooley, Chicago school

-social environment shapes individual

-environment affects meaning

-Cooley

-self emerges from an interactive social processs

-invision how others perceive us, gauge responses of individuals to our presentation of self

-refine how others see us, develop self-concept that interacts w/social world

-meaning emerges through social interaction

What meanings do people attach to things they encounter?

How are people constructing reality, meaning, roles?

How are individuals being affected by larger social issues?

We imagine what other people think of us

We can't know what they are thinking, so we guess based on

Their reactions to us

What they say (their verbal language)

Their body language

"We are who we think other people think we are."

-pretty stable idea of who we are

-changes slowly

-more temporary

-changes w/different social situations

ex. i can be confident with friends, but scared in shy in front of strangers

-belief that one can:

overcome obstacles

achieve goals

-group of two

-most intimate

-needs both members' participation to exist

-some symmetry involved

-group of 3 

-supra-individual power: one member can choose to leave, group still exists

-power politics can exist btn group members

-social loafing

-social dilemmas

group members are faced with bettering circumstances for themselves or for the group

ex. finale of bachelor pad

-face to face interactions

-unifocal

-lack of formal arrangements

-level of equality

intimate

face to face

strongly influence attitudes/ideals of members

ex. family, friend group

-not intimate

-has purpose--goal

ex. club, work group

-you belong to it

-you refer to it as "us/we"

-provides social identity

-don't have to like group, but are still a member

these groups can overlap

-group you are not in

-"they/them"

-may or may not want to be a member

-group we use to compare with

-may be jealous of this group depending on circumstances

ex. different class that has less/more hw than your class

2 or more people linked together

- "ties"

- certain set of expectations

2+ people bound together 

stable pattern of ineraction

feeling of unity

fluid--change in group members

-emotional links

-powerful relationships

-security, worth, acceptance

ex. mother/child, husband/wife

-goal-oriented

-relationship ends when goal is achieved

-can become expressive ties

ex. employee, cashier who helps you

-individual decision-making process

-holds belonging to a group more important than rational thinking

dramaturgical theory

-under category of impression management-

Erving Goffman

-life's a theatrical performance, people are actors

what props/costumes do we have?

backstage: costume changes take place, think about our role

frontstage: public display area