CHAPTER 1:

DISCOVER SOCIOLOGY
DR. YASMIN AHMAD
The Power of Society

◦ Sociology shows us the power of society to guide all

our life decisions in much the same way that the
seasons influence our choice of clothing.
The Sociological Perspective: What
Is…?
◦ Sociology
◦ Systematic study of human society
◦ Distinctive view guided by sociological perspective
◦ Sociological Perspective
◦ View that sees general patterns of society in the lives of
particular people
The Sociological Perspective

◦ How is the sociological perspective defined?

◦ Seeing general patterns in the behavior of particular
people (Berger 1963)
◦ Seeing society shapes what we think and do in
patterned ways
◦ Seeing society in our everyday lives
The Sociological Perspective:
Durkheim's Study of Suicide
◦ Does society affect decisions about suicide?
◦ Emile Durkheim's research findings
◦ More likely to commit: Male Protestants who were wealthy and
unmarried
◦ Less likely to commit: Male Jews and Catholics who were poor
and married
The Sociological Perspective:
Durkheim's Study of Suicide…

◦ What is the conclusion based on Durkheim”s Study?

The Sociological Perspective:
Durkheim's Study of Suicide…
◦ One of the basic findings: Why?

◦ The differences between these groups had to do with “social integration”

◦ Those with strong social ties had less of a chance of committing suicide

◦ Freedom weakens social ties and increases risk of suicide

What is the sociological imagination?
◦ C. Wright Mills
◦ Society, not people, is main cause of poverty and other social
problems.
◦ By turning personal problems into public issues, the sociological
imagination is the key to bringing people together to create
needed change.
 Applying the Sociological
Perspective
◦ Usefulness of applying the sociological perspective
◦ Sociology guides many of our life-shaping laws and policies.
◦ Using a sociological perspective leads to important personal
growth and awareness.
◦ Studying sociology aids in the preparation for the world of work.
 Applying the Sociological
Perspective: Sociology and
Public Policy
◦ Sociologists shape public policy in countless ways
◦ What examples can you identify?
 Applying the Sociological
Perspective: Sociology and
Personal Growth
◦ The sociological perspective
◦ Helps us assess truth of common sense
◦ Helps us see opportunities and constraints
◦ Empowers us to be active participants in society
◦ Helps us live in a diverse world
 Applying the Sociological
Perspective: Careers
◦ The “sociological advantage”
◦ Sociology is excellent preparation for jobs in dozens of diverse
fields (American Sociological Association, 2002, 2011a, 2011b).
 Origins of Sociology
◦ What are the origins?
◦ The birth of sociology was itself the result of powerful
social forces.
◦ Let's take a closer look at some of these forces.
 What kinds of social change were especially
important in the development of sociology?

◦ During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

◦ Rise of a factory-based industrial economy
◦ Explosive growth of cities
◦ New ideas about democracy and political rights
Social Change and Sociology: A
New Awareness of Society
◦ What changes combined to make people
more aware of their surroundings?
− Huge factories
− Exploding cities
− New spirit of individualism
◦ The new discipline of sociology was born in England, France,
and Germany.
Science and Sociology: A Closer
Look at Comte
◦ Comte Used scientific approach to the study of society in
positivism
◦ Believed that society operates according to its own laws, much
as the physical world operates according to gravity and other
laws of nature
◦ Disputed by modern sociologists who posit a more complex
view of human behavior, including that related to social
injustice
 Sociological Theory: What Is…?
◦ Theory
◦ Statement of how and why specific facts are related
◦ Theoretical Approach
◦ Basic image of society that guides thinking and research
◦ Structural-functional
◦ Social-conflict
◦ Symbolic-interaction
Structural-Functional Approach (1
of 2)

◦ The basics
◦ Macro-level orientation is concerned with broad
patterns that shape society as a whole.
◦ Society is viewed as a complex system; parts work
together to promote solidarity and stability.
Structural-Functional Approach (2
of 2)

◦ Key elements
◦ Social structure: Any relatively stable patterns of social behavior
found in social institutions
◦ Social function: Consequences for the operation of society as a
whole
◦ Manifest functions: Recognized and intended consequences
of any social pattern
◦ Latent functions: Unrecognized and unintended
consequences of any social pattern
Who's Who in the Structural-
Functional Approach (1 of 2)
◦ Auguste Comte
-Importance of social integration during times of rapid change
◦ Emile Durkheim
− Helped establish sociology as a discipline
◦ Herbert Spencer
− Compared society to the human body
Who's Who in the Structural-
Functional Approach (2 of 2)
◦ Robert K. Merton
◦ Manifest functions are recognized and intended consequences
◦ Latent functions are unrecognized and unintended
consequences
◦ Social dysfunctions are undesirable consequences
Evaluation of the Structural-
Functional Approach
◦ Evaluation
◦ Favored approach in mid-19s
◦ Focus on stability at expense of conflict makes this approach somewhat
conservative
◦ Less utilized today
 Social Conflict Approach:
What Is…? (1 of 2)
◦ Social-conflict approach
◦ Sees society as arena of inequality that generates
conflict and change
 Social Conflict Approach:
What Is…? (2 of 2)
◦ Gender-conflict theory
◦ Focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men
◦ Feminism
◦ Race-conflict theory
◦ Focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different
racial and ethnic categories
Social-Conflict Approach (2 of 3)
◦ Key elements
◦ Rejects the idea that social structure
promotes the operation of society as a whole
◦ Suggests society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the
expense of the majority
Social-Conflict Approach (3 of 3)
◦ Evaluation
◦ Many sociologists use social-conflict approach not just to
understand society but also to bring about societal change
that would reduce inequality.
◦ Critics of the conflict perspective point to its overly negative
view of society.
Who's Who in the Social-Conflict Approach

◦ Karl Marx
◦ Focus on importance of social class in inequality and
social conflict
◦ W.E.B. Du Bois
◦ Focus on race as the major problem facing the U.S. in
the 20th century
Gender-Conflict Approach and
Feminism

◦ The basics
◦ Gender-conflict theory: Focuses on inequality and
conflict between women and men
◦ Feminism: Advocacy of social equality for women
and men linked to gender-conflict theory
Who's Who In Feminism and the
Gender-Conflict Approach
◦ Harriet Martineau
◦ First woman sociologist
◦ Translated Comte's work from French to English
◦ Documented the evils of slavery, argued for laws to protect
factory workers, and fought for changes in education policy for
women
Who's Who In Feminism and the
Gender-Conflict Approach
◦ Jane Addams
◦ Was a sociological pioneer who
helped found Hull House
◦ Dealt with issues involving immigration
and the pursuit of peace
◦ Won Nobel Peace Prize (1931)
◦ We can use the sociological
perspective to look at sociology
itself. All of the most widely
recognized pioneers of the discipline
were men. This is because in the
nineteenth century, it was all but
unheard of for women to be college
professors, and few women took a
central role in public life.
The Race-Conflict Approach (1 of 2)
◦ The basics
◦ Focus on inequality and conflict between people of different
racial and ethnic categories
The Race-Conflict Approach (2 of 2)
◦ The basics
◦ Focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and
ethnic categories
◦ Suggests racial conflict is still an issue in U.S.
Who's Who in the Race-Conflict
Approach (1 of 2)
◦ Ida Wells Barnett
◦ Born to slave parents but rose to become a
teacher and then a journalist and newspaper
publisher
◦ Campaigned for racial equality throughout her life
Who's Who in the Race-Conflict
Approach (2 of 2)

◦ W.E.B. Du Bois
◦ Earned the first doctorate awarded by Harvard to a person of
color
◦ Founded the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory
◦ Believed that sociologists should not simply learn about
society's problems but also try to solve them
Social-Conflict Theories

◦ Evaluation
◦ Large following gained in recent decades
◦ Focus on inequality, but largely ignores how shared
values and interdependence unify members of a
society
Symbolic-Interaction Approach (1
of 2)

◦ The basics
◦ Presents a micro-level orientation
◦ Offers a close-up focus on social interactions in
specific situations
◦ Views society as the product of everyday
interactions of individuals
Symbolic-Interaction Approach (2
of 2)

◦ Key elements
◦ Society is a shared reality that people construct as
they interact with one another.
◦ Society is a complex, ever-changing.
Who's Who in the Symbolic-
Interaction Approach (1 of 2)

◦ Max Weber
◦ Understanding a setting from the people in it
◦ George Herbert Mead
◦ How we build personalities from social experience
Who's Who in the Symbolic-
Interaction Approach (2 of 2)

◦ Erving Goffman
◦ Dramaturgical analysis
◦ George Homans and Peter Blau
◦ Social-exchange analysis
 Overall Evaluation
◦ Structural-Functional
◦ Appears too broad
◦ Ignores inequalities of social class, race and gender
◦ Focuses on stability at the expense of conflict
◦ Social-Conflict
◦ Appears too broad
◦ Ignores how shared values and mutual interdependence unify society
◦ Pursues political goals
◦ Symbolic-Interaction
◦ Ignores larger social structures, effects of culture, factors such as class, gender,
and race