Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction To Sociology
Introduction To Sociology
BSW214
Chileshe Mulenga
1
05/14/2024 © 2019. Cavendish University. Private and Confidential
WEEK ONE
Objective:
- This unit seeks to introduce students to sociological thoughts and to acquiring the necessary skill for
community action.
- Present a background and Historical Understanding of Sociology.
- To orient Sociology to students in relation with the basic Social Sciences.
- To introduce students to major perspectives in sociological thoughts.
Sociology is defined as the science that studies human society and social behavior.
the study and classification of human societies Sociology is the study of society.
It is a social science (with which it is informally synonymous) that uses various methods of empirical
investigation and critical analysis to develop and refine a body of knowledge and theory about human
social activity, often with the goal of applying such.
Sociologists have broken culture into three different levels, namely trait, complex and pattern.
1. Culture Trait is an individual tool, art, or belief that is related to a particular situation or need. A trait
2. Culture Complex is a cluster of interrelated traits. For example a game of football is a culture complex
that involves a variety of such as traits e.g. kicking, football and running.
3. Culture Pattern is a combination of a number of culture complexes into an interrelated whole. For
example, the complexes of sport basketball, softball, swimming, tennis, soccer and tract combine to
- Such a class revolution would establish a “class‐free” society in which all people work according to
- Unlike Spencer, Marx believed that economics, not natural selection, determines the differences
- He further claimed that a society's economic system decides peoples' norms, values, mores, and
religious beliefs, as well as the nature of the society's political, governmental, and educational
systems.
- Also unlike Spencer, Marx urged people to take an active role in changing society rather than simply
- OBJECTIVE: This unit introduces students to the main subject matter of Sociology. We will analyze
society and demonstrate how research can be used as a tool to improve society.
- OUTCOMES: at the end of this unit, students should be able to:
- Understand society and groups in it
- Use theories to explain social diversity and social reality.
- Understand the methods that govern sociological research
Sociological Research
- Sociology is the science that studies human society and social behavior.
- Because sociology is a science, it seeks answers to questions through research empirical.
- Empirical research is research that relies on the use of experience, observation and experimentation to
collect facts.
- In scientific terms, these facts are called data.
- If something can be seen, tested, smelt, felt or heard, it is considered to be empirical.
- Therefore, sociologists collect empirical data by using the scientific method.
- The scientific method is an objective, logical and systematic way of collecting empirical data and arriving at
conclusions.
- Researchers who use the scientific method are advantaged in the following way:
a) They prevent their own motions, values and biases from interfering in the research process.
b) Use careful and correct reasoning in drawing conclusions from their data.
-They are flexible, they allow you to answer many questions or ask many questions on the topic,
giving you considerable flexibility in your analysis
Weaknesses of the social survey
-The environment of standardized questionnaires often results in fitting a round leg in a square hole.
-This means that certain questions are limited in analyzing the personal attitudes of people.
-For instance questions which require YES or NO answers do not give room for respondents to
explain or express their feelings as to why they choose the NO or YES answer.
-A survey researcher rarely develops a feel for the total life situation in which respondents are
thinking and acting.
-Surveys are subject to artificiality; surveys can not measure social action.
-They can easily collect self-made reports of past action or of perspective or hypothetical action.
-In many ways the surveys are inflexible.
-Surveys researchers are generally weak on validity and strong liability in comparison with field
research. .i.e. artificiality of the survey formats puts strength on validity.
-Surveys in such cases must be regarded as approximate indicators of what the researchers had in
mind.
-For instance, in most cases, options in the questionnaires are suggested by the researcher; for
example a) agree. B) Disagree. c) Strongly agree. E.t.c.
EVALUATIVE RESEARCH
- This is a process used to determine systematically and as objectively as possible the effectiveness,
efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project.
- In other ways, it is an analysis of experience to see if the stated objectives have been achieved and
determine how and why such objectives were not achieved.
- Evaluative research is concerned with both negative and positive results.
- The broader view of evaluation involves looking at outcomes, impacts as well as analysis of efforts
including the considerations of programming activities.
- It is a process of making judgments about the merit, worth or value of change efforts.
- It is a comprehensive evaluation of the whole system in that it combines the efforts, the outcomes,
the processes and all related issues.
- It focuses on the degree to which a programme or project is meeting its goals associated problems
and any unanticipated efforts created.
- In short, programme evaluation is concerned with evaluating the value or worth of a particular
programme.
Types of Evaluative Research
Formative Research
- This type of evaluation is done in the early stages and through out the programme.
- This deals with understanding people’s feelings, attitudes and perceptions of a project through out
the stages it takes to reach fruition.
- The advantage of this type of research is that you can see whether or not you are achieving stated
objectives at each stage of your programme.
- It is also easy for the management to correct the mistakes made at each stage of the project life cycle
and redirect the project.
- It also helps people with programmes to see if they are going according to plan, than wait until the
project is over.
Summative Research
- This is a type of evaluative research which is done at the end or completion of the project or
programme.
- A project is a set of activities that one plans to carry out, that are time-bound, well-planned,
developmentally appropriate, cost effective and addresses needs felt.
- A programme is a set of project that addresses needs of the individual, group and community.
- For instance, after completing the project, one needs to look back and see whether the project has
successfully accomplished all the goals/aims and objectives that had been set or not.
- It takes in to account everything that has been happening within the time of the project.
- It refers to outcomes
- It shows whether the project has worked or not
- Whether the project has achieved its objectives or not
Basic Assumption Of Evaluative Research
-There are three basic assumptions about evaluative research and as a social researcher, these are the
most important things you look at in any project or programme before embarking on an evaluative
-it should be seen and make logical sense or clearly linked to the objectives.
-This means that there must be a link or relationship between what we say we want to do or achieve
5. Counter-culturalism
- is a subculture that deliberately opposes certain aspects of the larger culture.
- Counterculture thrives among the young who have the least investment in the existing
culture.
THE CONCEPT OF 'HIGH' CULTURE
- Many people today think of culture in the way that it was thought of in Europe during the 18th
and early 19th centuries.
- This concept of culture reflected inequalities within European societies and their colonies
around the world.
- This understanding of culture equates culture with civilization and contrasts both with nature or
non-civilization.
- According to this understanding of culture, some countries are more civilized than others, and
some people are more cultured than others.
- Theorists like Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) believed that culture is simply that which is created
by "the best that has been thought and said in the world" (p. 6).
- Anything that doesn't fit into this category is labeled as chaos or anarchy.
- From this perspective, culture is closely tied to cultivation, which is the progressive refinement
of human behavior.
- In practice, culture referred to elite goods and activities such as haute cuisine, high fashion or
- The word cultured referred to people who knew about and took part in these activities. For
example, someone who used culture in this sense might argue that classical music is more
refined than music by working-class people, such as jazz or the indigenous music traditions of
aboriginal peoples.
- People who use culture in this way tend not to use it in the plural. They believe that there are
not distinct cultures, each with their own internal logic and values, but rather only a single
standard of refinement to which all groups are held accountable.
- Thus people who differ from those who believe themselves to be cultured in this sense are not
usually understood as having a different culture; they are understood as being uncultured.
THE CHANGING CONCEPT OF CULTURE
- During the Romantic Era, scholars in Germany, especially those concerned with nationalism,
developed a more inclusive notion of culture as worldview.
- That is, each ethnic group is characterized by a distinct and incommensurable world view.
- Although more inclusive, this approach to culture still allowed for distinctions between civilized
and primitive or tribal cultures.
- By the late 19th century, anthropologists had changed the concept of culture to include a
wider variety of societies, ultimately resulting in the concept of culture as outlined above -
objects and symbols, the meaning given to those objects and symbols, and the norms,
values, and beliefs that pervade social life.
- This new perspective has also removed the evaluative element of the concept of culture and
instead proposes distinctions rather than rankings between different cultures. For instance,
the high culture of elites is now contrasted with popular or pop culture. In this sense, high
culture no longer refers to the idea of being cultured, as all people are cultured.
- High culture simply refers to the objects, symbols, norms, values, and beliefs of a particular
group of people; popular culture does the same.
- Most social scientists today reject the cultured vs. uncultured concept of culture.
- Social scientists recognize that non-elites are as cultured as elites (and that non-Westerners
are just as civilized); they simply have a different culture.
THE ORIGINS OF CULTURE
- Attentive to the theory of evolution, anthropologists assumed that all human beings are equally
evolved, and the fact that all humans have cultures must in some way be a result of human
evolution.
- But they were also wary (cautious) of using biological evolution to explain differences between
specific cultures - an approach that either was a form of, or legitimized forms of, racism.
- Anthropologists believed biological evolution produced an inclusive notion of culture, a concept
that anthropologists could apply equally to non-literate and literate societies, or to nomadic and to
sedentary societies.
- They argued that through the course of their evolution, human beings evolved a universal human
capacity to classify experiences, and encode and communicate them symbolically.
- Since these symbolic systems were learned and taught, they began to develop independently of
biological evolution (in other words, one human being can learn a belief, value, or way of doing
something from another, even if they are not biologically related).
- But that this capacity for symbolic thinking and social learning is a product of human evolution
confounds older arguments about nature versus nurture.
- This view of culture argues that people living apart from one another develop unique cultures.
- However, elements of different cultures can easily spread from one group of people to another.
- Culture is dynamic and can be taught and learned, making it a potentially rapid form of adaptation
to changes in physical conditions.
- Anthropologists view culture as not only a product of biological evolution but as a supplement to
it; it can be seen as the main means of human adaptation to the natural world.
- This view of culture as a symbolic system with adaptive functions, which varies from place to
place, led anthropologists to conceive of different cultures as defined by distinct patterns (or
structures) of enduring
- Anthropologists thus distinguish between material culture and symbolic culture, not only because
each reflects different kinds of human activity, but also because they constitute different kinds of
data that require different methodologies to study.
- This view of culture, which came to dominate anthropology between World War I and World War
II, implied that each culture was bounded and had to be understood as a whole, on its own terms.
- The result is a belief in cultural relativism, which suggests that there are no "better" or "worse"
cultures, just different cultures..
- Recent research suggests that human culture has reversed the causal direction suggested above and
influence human evolution.
- One well-known illustration of this is the rapid spread of genetic instructions that left on a gene
that produces a protein that allows humans to digest lactose.
- This adaptation spread rapidly in Europe around 4,000 BCE with the domestication of mammals,
as humans began harvesting their milk for consumption.
LEVEL OF ABSTRACTION OF CULTURE
- Another element of culture that is important for a clear understanding of the concept is level of
abstraction.
- Culture ranges from the concrete, cultural object (e.g., the understanding of a work of art) to
micro-level interpersonal interactions (e.g., the socialization of a child by his/her parents) to a
macro-level influence on entire societies (e.g., the Puritanical roots of the U.S. that can be used
to justify the exportation of democracy – a lá the Iraq War).
- It is important when trying to understand the concept of culture to keep in mind that the
concept can have multiple levels of meaning.
THE ARTIFICIALITY OF CULTURAL CATEGORIZATION
-One of the more important points to understand about culture is that it is an artificial categorization of
elements of social life.
-As Griswold puts it, There is no such thing as culture or society out there in the real world.
-There are only people who work, raise children, love, think, worship and behave in a variety of ways.
-To speak of culture as one thing and society as another is to make an analytical distinction between
two different aspects of human experience.
-One way to think of the distinction is that culture designates the expressive aspect of human existence,
whereas society designates the relational (and often practical) aspect. (p. 4)
-In the above quote, Griswold emphasizes that culture is distinct from society but affirms that this
distinction is, like all classifications, artificial.
-Humans do not experience culture in a separate or distinct way from society.
-Culture and society are truly two-sides of a coin; a coin that makes up social life.
-Yet the distinction between the two, while artificial, is useful for a number of reasons. For instance, the
distinction between culture and society is of particular use when exploring how norms and values are
transmitted from generation to generation and answering the question of cultural conflict between
people of different cultural backgrounds
WEEK 5
- While there are numerous theoretical approaches employed to understand 'culture', this chapter uses just
- In this model, Ritzer proposes four highly interdependent elements in his sociological model:
UNIT 6: SOCIALIZATION
Objective:
- This unit examines the relevance of theories of socialization in society and a deeper understanding of
socialization.
- It further dares to equip the learner with the forms and agents of socialization.
- Lastly, students will explore the general behavior of community on society and the effects of the
individual behavior.
Outcomes: at the end of the unit, students should:
- Understand and define the concept socialization.
- Identify the Agents of Socialization
- To explain and understand Deviant behavior
- To explain the Theories of deviance and collective behavior
Definition
-Socialization is defined as a long life process in which people learn the attitudes, values and behavior
appropriate for members of a particular culture.
-Can also be defined as an interactive process through which people learn the basic skills, values,
beliefs and behavior patterns in life.
Forces of socialization
-Sigmund Freud saw socialization as a life long struggle within a person’s mind.
This struggle involves three (3) forces:
Id: is a reservoir of innate biological drives aimed at obtaining physical pleasure.
Ego is the rational part of which mediates between the id and the Reality.
Superego is essentially a person’s conscience which embodies the moral standards of society.
Types of Socialization
There are basically three (3) types of socialization. Namely: Primary, anticipatory and Adulthood.
-Primary Socialization takes place in childhood where the child is taught the language, self-control,
and basic skills.
-Anticipatory Socialization is when a person “rehearse” for future position, occupations and social
relationships.
-Adulthood Socialization takes place in adulthood as they meet new situations and challenges which
require new socialization.
Elements of Socialization
-Socialization is a fundamental sociological concept, comprising a number of elements.
-While not every sociologist will agree which elements are the most important, or even how to define
some of the elements of socialization, the elements outlined below should help clarify what is meant
by socialization.
Goals of Socialization
- Arnett, in presenting a new theoretical understanding of socialization (see below), outlined what
he believes to be the three goals of socialization:
1. Impulse control and the development of a conscience
2. Role preparation and performance, including occupational roles, gender roles, and
roles in institutions such as marriage and parenthood
3. The cultivation of sources of meaning, or what is important, valued, and to be lived for
Socialization is relative
- socialization is culturally relative - people in different cultures are socialized differently.
- This distinction does not and should not inherently force an evaluative judgment.
- Socialization, because it is the adoption of culture, is going to be different in every culture.
- Socialization, as either process or an outcome, is not better or worse in any particular culture.
- It should also be noted that, while socialization is a key sociological process in the
development of individuals who can function in human society, not every aspect of human
behavior is learned.
- For instance, there is evidence that most children have innate empathy for individuals who are
willfully injured and consider it wrong.
- Thus, some aspects of human behavior that one might believe are learned, like empathy and
morals, may, in fact, be biologically determined.
- To what extent human behavior is biologically determined vs. learned is still an open question in
the study of human behavior.
Distinction between Primary and Secondary Socialization
- Primary socialization takes place early in life, as a child and adolescent.
- Secondary socialization refers to the socialization that takes place throughout one's life, both as
a child and as one encounters new groups that require additional socialization.
- While there are scholars who argue that only one or the other of these occurs, most social
scientists tend to combine the two,
- They argue that the basic or core identity of the individual develops during primary
socialization, with more specific changes occurring later
- Secondary socialization provides response to the acquisition of new group memberships and
roles and differently structured social situations.
- The need for later life socialization may stem from the increasing complexity of society with its
corresponding increase in varied roles and responsibilities.
- Additionally, Mortimer and Simmons outline three specific ways these two parts of socialization
differ:
Content
- Socialization in childhood is thought to be concerned with the regulation of biological drives.
- In adolescence, socialization is concerned with the development of main values and the self-
image.
- In adulthood, socialization involves more overt and specific norms and behaviors, such as those
related to the work role as well as more superficial personality features.
Context
- In earlier periods, the socializee (the person being socialized) more clearly assumes the status of
learner within the context of the family of orientation, the school, or the peer group.
- Also, relationships in the earlier period are more likely to be affectively charged, i.e., highly
emotional..
- In adulthood, though the socializee takes the role of student at times, much socialization
occurs after the socializee has assumed full incumbency of the adult role.
- There is also a greater likelihood of more formal relationships due to situational contexts
(e.g., work environment), which moderates down the affective component.
Response
- The child and adolescent may be more easily malleable than the adult.
- Also, much adult socialization is self-initiated and voluntary; adults can leave or terminate
the process at any time.
Socialization according to Arnett
a) Arnett's definition of socialization
- Defines it as the whole process by which an individual born with behavioral potentialities of
enormously wide range, is led to develop actual behavior which is confined with a much
narrower range; the range of what is customary and acceptable for him according to the
standards of his group.
- Arnett distinguishes then between broad and narrow socialization:
- Broad socialization is intended to promote independence, individualism, and self-expression;
- it is dubbed broad because this type of socialization has the potential of resulting in a broad
range of outcomes
- Narrow socialization is intended to promote obedience and conformity
- it is dubbed narrow because there is a narrow range of outcomes
- however, Arnett further argues that socialization can be broad or narrow within each of the
seven socializing forces he outlines (e.g., family, friends, etc.).
- This is because each force can be either broad or narrow, there is a wide variety of possible
broad/narrow socialization combinations. ave been well-documented
- Finally, Arnett notes two examples where his distinction is relevant.
- First, Arnett argues that there are often differences in socialization by gender.
- To this end Arnett argues that socialization tends to be narrower for women than for men.
- Arnett also argues that Japanese socialization is narrow as there is more pressure toward
conformity in that culture.
- Arnett argues that this may account for the lower crime rates in Japan.
The Importance of Socialization
- One of the most common methods used to illustrate the importance of socialization is to draw
upon the few unfortunate cases of children who were not socialized by adults
- while they were growing up.
- This is a case of "feral" children.
- Some feral children have been confined or abandoned by people (usually their own parents)
- In some cases, this child abandonment was due to the parents' rejection of a child's severe
intellectual or physical impairment.
- Feral children may have experienced severe child abuse or trauma before being abandoned or
running away.
- Others are alleged to have been brought up by animals; some are said to have lived in the wild on
their own.
- When completely brought up by non-human animals, the feral child exhibits behaviors (within
physical limits) almost entirely like those of the particular care-animal, such as its fear of or
indifference to humans.
- Feral children lack the basic social skills which are normally learned in the process of
socialization.
- For example, they may be unable to learn to use a toilet, have trouble learning to walk upright and
display a complete lack of interest in the human activity around them.
- They often seem mentally impaired and have almost insurmountable trouble of learning a
human language.
- The impaired ability to learn language after having been isolated for so many years is often
attributed to the existence of a critical period for language learning, and taken as evidence in
favor of the Critical Period Hypothesis.
- It is very difficult to socialize a child who became isolated at a very young age into a relatively
normal member of society and such individuals often need close care throughout their lives.
- There are, unfortunately, a number of examples of such children that h
WEEK 8
Unit 8: Theoretical Understandings of Socialization
- Socialization, as a concept in social scientific research, has evolved over time.
- There have been quite a variety of definitions and theories of socialization.
- Some of these approaches are presented here
1. Symbolic Interactionism
- the self develops as a result of social interactions;
- socialization is highly dependent on the situations in which the actor finds him/herself;
- this approach also argues that socialization is a continuous, lifelong process
2. Role Theory
- socialization is seen as a process of acquisition of appropriate norms, attitudes, self-images,
values, and role behaviors that enable acceptance in the group and effective performance of
new roles;
- in this framework, socialization is seen as a conservative force, permitting the perpetuation of
the social organization in spite of the turn-over of individual members through time
3. Reinforcement Theory
- the self develops as a result of cognitive evaluations of costs and benefits;
- this understanding assumes that the socializee, in approaching new roles, is an independent and
active negotiator for advantages in relationships with role partners and membership groups
4. Internalization Theory
- socialization is a series of stages in which the individual learns to participate in various levels of
organization of society;
- this theory contends that the child internalizes a cognitive frame of reference for interpersonal
relations and a common system of expressive symbolism in addition to a moral conscience;
- this approach was advocated by Talcott Parsons
Other theories
Over-imitations
- Recent research suggests that human children are hard-wired to exactly imitate the roles of adults,
including actions that are not pragmatic. This is referred to as "overimitation" and, while seemingly
maladaptive from an evolutionary perspective, it is possible that this is one of the characteristics of
humans that facilitate the transmission of culture from generation to generation.
Concept of Socialization According to LONG and HADDEN
Definition:
-Socialization a medium of Joining a Group.
-In this sense, Long and Hadden reframed socialization as "the medium for transforming
newcomers into bona fide members of a group.
Critiques by Long and Hadden on earlier approaches
- Before discussing some of the specifics of this approach, it may be useful to outline some of the
critiques Long and Hadden present of earlier approaches to socialization.
1. Extension of socialization:
-According to Long and Hadden, many earlier approaches to socialization extended socialization to
every part of human social life.
-As a result, everyone becomes both a socializing agent (socializer) and a novice (socializee) in all
encounters with others.
-This conceptualization leaves socialization without a social home; it is all around but no place in
particular.
2. Inclusiveness of socialization
- socialization includes virtually everything, excludes almost nothing, and shifts with circumstance
and outcomes.
3. Lack of specificity
- Additionally, previous approaches to socialization lacked specificity about the nature of
socialization activity.
- Defining socialization by its outcomes made it unnecessary to stipulate the nature of the process
conceptually.
- In order to truly understand what is taking place it is necessary to go beyond just pointing to
socializing agents and specify what it is about those agents that is doing the socializing.
- As a result of these criticisms, Long and Hadden found themselves presented with a two-fold task:
locate socialization and its social boundaries more precisely
specify the distinctive properties which distinguish it from related phenomena
- To accomplish this, Long and Hadden developed a new understanding of socialization, "socialization
is the process of creating and incorporating new members of a group from a pool of newcomers,
carried out by members and their allies".
- Under this understanding, the principal agents of socialization are certified as practicing members of
the group to which novices are being socialized.
- It should be noted that certified here is only a shortened way of saying "a socially approved member
of the group."
- Thus, Long and Hadden's revised understanding of socialization sees it as both the process and
outcome of joining groups.
Socialisation and Social Class
-Ellis, Lee, and Peterson, developing a research agenda begun by Melvin L. Kohn, explored
differences in how parents raise their children relative to their social class.
-Kohn found that lower class parents were more likely to emphasize conformity in their children
-middle-class parents were more likely to emphasize creativity and self-reliance.
-Ellis et. al. proposed and found that parents value conformity over self-reliance in children to the
extent that conformity superseded self-reliance as a criterion for success in their own endeavors.
WEEK NINE
- Objective: In this unit, students will explore social mobility and how individuals and society change
and grow from one level or stage to another
- Outcome: at the end of this unit, student should be able:
1. Vertical mobility:
- These types of mobility can either be upward or downwards depending on whether an individual
moves to a higher or lower position in a strata system.
- Promotion from a secretarial position to a managerial position is upward mobility while the
opposite is down wards mobility.
2. Horizontal mobility:
- When an individual moves from one job to another of equal social ranking, the individual is
experiencing horizontal mobility.
- Here, the focus is on differences between the parents’ social class and the children’s current
position in the stratification system.
- The daughter of a farmer who becomes a doctor experiences intergenerational upward mobility.
- The son of a doctor who becomes a carpenter is experiencing intergenerational down ward
mobility.
b. advances in technology
-Although upward mobility is more common, there always are some people who move down the
social-class ladder.
a. Personal factors
- such as illness,
- Divorce/ Widowhood
a. structural factors.
Objectives: Students will understand the broadness of demography and its effect on sociological work.
Outcomes: at the end of this unit, student should be able to:
To understand demography
To understand the extent of democratic influence on social planning
To apply demography to development of the community through delivery of social services
Definition
- Demography, otherwise understood as population, basically refers to numbers of people in many
people’s opinion.
- Sociologically, demography has various related concepts that include factors influencing:
population growth, movement, and its results
The concept of Social Planning
- Social planning was gradually realized in the 1960’s because prior to the 1960’s it was the
economic aspect.
- by 1960s the concept of social aspect was included.
- The realization of social aspects of development planning in the 1960’s led to immergence of a
special type or branch of planning activity known as social planning.
- The existence of social planning is reflected in various ways.
- For example, many national planning agencies have a separate section responsible for social
planning interdisciplinary teams frequently include a social planner and the point of reference for
project feasibility studies usually includes an assessment of the social impact of the project.
- However, although social planning is widely recognized as a specific kind of planning, the term
is used in various different ways and may cover the fairly wide range of activities.
Activities Covered by Social Planning
- The term social planning may be used to cover any or all of the following activities:
- Planning social service- planning for social services can include issues of health, education,
housing and social welfare. These might be considered to be social services.
- Planning specifically to improve the quality of life of the particular section of the
population/the whole population e.g. marginalized groups/improve the quality of life of the
entire population.
- Assessing the way in which the social characteristics of the people concerned are likely to
affect the implementation of a particular programme policy or project e.g. if you want to
eliminate hunger, again you have to change the behavior of the people if the good you are
introducing is foreign or alien. People have to adjust to the programme being implemented.
- Assessing the likely future or actual impact of the policy, programme or project of the social
conditions. E.g. you have a policy document outlining how it can develop education, e.g. train
more teachers- this needs more revenue and it means increasing tax to raise revenue. This tax can
have impact on people and these are the limitations in meeting basic needs.
WEEK ELEVEN
Unit 11: SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
Definition
-Social stratification refers to society's categorization of its people into groups based on
socioeconomic factors like wealth, income, race, education, gender, occupation, and social status, or
derived power (social and political).
-As such, stratification is the relative social position of persons within a social group, category,
geographic region, or social unit.
Social classes
In modern Western societies, social stratification is typically defined in terms of three social classes:
(i) the upper class,
(ii) the middle class
(iii) the lower class;
-in turn, each class can be subdivided into, e.g. the upper-stratum, the middle-stratum, and the lower
stratum
-Moreover, a social stratum can be formed upon the bases of kinship, clan, tribe, or caste, or all four.
Categorization into social classes
-The categorization of people by social stratum occurs most clearly in complex state-based, polycentric,
or feudal societies, the latter being based upon socio-economic relations among classes of nobility and
classes of peasants.
-Historically, whether or not hunter-gatherer, tribal, and band societies can be defined as socially
stratified, or if social stratification otherwise began with agriculture and large-scale means of social
exchange, remains a debated matter in the social sciences.
-Determining the structures of social stratification arises from inequalities of status among persons,
therefore, the degree of social inequality determines a person's social stratum.
-Generally, the greater the social complexity of a society, the more social stratification exists, by way of
social differentiation.
WEEK 10
Unit 10: SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
- Social institution can be defined or understood as agent of socialization. One of the most common
social institution is “family”.
Definition of family
-Family is defined as a set of people by blood, marriage or some other agreed upon relationships or
adoptions, who share the primary responsibility of reproduction and of caring of the society
-Equally, we can define it as a group who are related by marriage, blood, adoptions and who live
together and share common resources.
Types of Families
-There are different types of families, namely:
Nuclear family consists of one or both parents and children.
Family of orientation is the nuclear family into which a person is born.
Family of procreation consists of the individual, his or her spouses, and their children.
Extended family consists of three or more generation of a family sharing the same residence.
Modified Extended family does not share the same household, but is especially found among middle
class families
Types of Relationships
- There are three (3) types of relationships
- Primary relatives are the members of an individual’s family of procreation and orientation include
mother, father, sister, brother, spouse, daughter and son.
- Secondary relatives are the primary relatives of an individual’s primary relatives who include
grandparents, grandchildren, in-laws, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces.
- Tertiary relatives are primary relatives of an individual’s secondary relatives like great grandparents,
great grandchildren, great aunts, great uncles and great cousins.
Functions of the family
- The functions of the family are:
- Reproduction: for a society to maintain itself, it must replace dying members.
- The family contributes to human survival through its functions of reproduction.
- Protection: Human infants need constant care and economic security.
- In all cultures, the family assumes the ultimate responsibility for the Protection and up bringing of
Children.
- Socialization: Parents and other kin monitor a child’s behaviour and transmit the norms, values
and language of their culture to the child.
- Regulation of sexual behaviour: Sexual norms are subject to change both over time and across
cultures. However, whatever the time period or cultural values of a society.
- Standard of sexual behaviour are most clearly defined within the family circles.
- Affection and companionship: Ideally, the family provides members with warm and intimate
relationships, helping them to feel satisfied and secure.
- Provision of social status: We inherit a social position because of the family background and
reputation of our parents and siblings.
- The family represents the new born child with an ascribed status on race and ethnicity that helps to
determine his or her place within society stratification system.
Other socializing agents
- As children grow order, they begin to relate more and more with their peer groups. To win their
- School Plays is a major role in socializing individuals. Class activities are planned for deliberate
- Mass Media is one of the most influential agents which include newspapers, television, radio,
internet etc. They reach large audiences with no personal contact between the individual’s sending
- State regulates the behavior of citizens through the laws enacted by parliament.
Stages of Socialization
- There is a socially defined sequence of stages in human life from birth to death.
Infanthood is the stage where the family takes an active role in molding the behavior of the child. At
this stage the family is very important to the socialization of the child.
Childhood is the stage where the family no longer accounts for the socialization of the child. The
child is able to walk and interact with other people.
Adolescence is the stage where friends of the child become very important. They play a pivotal or
major role in the molding of adolescent behavior.
Adulthood socialization takes place in adult life. As individuals grow up, they meet new situations
and challenges which require new socialization.
Occupational socialization happens in places of work. The process of assigning norms, values and
beliefs to new workers with those of the organization or occupation in which one is employed.
Desocialisation may take place, it is the process whereby people are stripped off their values and self
conception acquired.
Afterwards, resocialisation takes place. A total institution regulates all aspects of a camp, a mental
hospital or a convent.
Importance of Socialisation
Help people to behave according to the norms and values of society
Teaches people about societal roles
Help in transition of cultures from one generation to the other.
Kinship terminology
- Archaeologist Lewis Henry Morgan (1818–1881) performed the first survey of kinship
terminologies in use around the world
- he argued that kinship terminologies reflect different sets of distinctions. For example, most
kinship terminologies distinguish between sexes (the difference between a brother and a
sister) and between generations (the difference between a child and a parent).
- He also argued that kinship terminologies distinguish between relatives by blood and
marriage (although recently some anthropologists have argued that many societies define
kinship in terms other than "blood").
- Morgan made a distinction between kinship systems that use classificatory terminology and
those that use descriptive terminology.
- Morgan's distinction is widely misunderstood, even by contemporary anthropologists.
- Classificatory systems are generally and erroneously understood to be those that "class
together" with a single term relatives who actually do not have the same type of
relationship to ego
- What Morgan's terminology actually differentiates are those (classificatory) kinship systems that do
not distinguish lineal and collateral relationships and those (descriptive) kinship systems that do..
Morgan identified six basic patterns of kinship terminologies:
- Hawaiian: only distinguishes relatives based upon sex and generation.
- Sudanese: no two relatives share the same term.
- Eskimo: in addition to distinguishing relatives based upon sex and generation, also distinguishes
between lineal relatives and collateral relatives.
- Iroquois: in addition to sex and generation, also distinguishes between siblings of opposite sexes in
the parental generation.
- Crow: a matrilineal system with some features of an Iroquois system, but with a "skewing" feature in
which generation is "frozen" for some relatives.
- Omaha: like a Crow system but patrilineal.
Western kinship
- Most Western societies employ Eskimo kinship terminology.
- This kinship terminology commonly occurs in societies based on conjugal (or nuclear) families, where
nuclear families have a degree of relative mobility.
- Members of the nuclear use descriptive kinship terms:
Mother: a female parent
Father: a male parent
Son: a male child of the parent(s)
Daughter: a female child of the parent(s)
Brother: a male child of the same parent(s)
Sister: a female child of the same parent(s)
Grandfather: father of a father or mother
Grandmother: mother of a mother or father
Cousin: two people that share the same Grandparent(s)
Oedipal family model and fascism
- The model, common in the western societies, of the family triangle, husband-wife-children isolated
from the outside, is also called oedipal model of the family, and it is a form of patriarchal family.
- One of the most prominent of such studies is Anti-OEdipus by Deleuze and Guattari (1972). Michel
Foucault, in its renowned preface, remarked how the primary focus of this study is the fight against
contemporary fascism.
- In the family, they argue, the young develop in a perverse relationship, wherein they learn to love the
same person who beats and oppresses them.
- The family therefore constitutes the first cell of the fascist society, as they will carry this attitude of
love for oppressive figures in their adult life.
- Kindship and family forms have often been thought to impact the social relations in the society as a
whole, and therefore been described as the first cell or the building social unit of the structure of a
society
- The child grows according to the oedipal model, which is typical of the structure of capitalist
societies, and he becomes in turn owner of submissive children and protector of the woman.
- Some argue that the family institution conflicts with human nature and human primitive desires and
that one of its core functions is performing a suppression of instincts, a repression of desire
commencing with the earliest age of the child.
- Michel Foucault, in his systematic study of sexuality, argued that rather than being merely repressed,
the desires of the individual are efficiently mobilized and used, to control the individual, alter
interpersonal relationships and control the masses.
- Foucault believed organized religion, through moral prohibitions, and economic powers, through
advertising, make use of unconscious sex drives.
WEEK ELEVEN
others, including England, require that the civil ceremony be conducted in a place specially
sanctioned by law (e.g., a church or register office), and be open to the public.
- An exception can be made in the case of marriage by special emergency license, which is normally
- Rules about where and when persons can marry vary from place to place.
- Some regulations require that one of the parties reside in the locality of the registry office.
WEEK TWELVE
- German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies distinguished between two types of human association:
Gemeinschaft (usually translated as "community") and Gesellschaft ("society" or "association").
COMMUNITY
- Community is defined as a spatial or political unit of social organization that gives people a sense of
belonging, based on either Shared Residence in a particular place or a Common Identity.
- It can also be defined as an informally or formally organized secondary group where members are
united by a common place of Residence or a common subculture.
Types of communities
- A number of ways to categorize types of community have been proposed; one such breakdown is:
1. Geographic communities: range from the local neighbourhood, suburb, village, town or city, region,
nation or even the planet as a whole. These refer to communities of location.
2. Communities of culture:
- range from the local clique, sub-culture, ethnic group, religious, multicultural or pluralistic
civilization, or the global community cultures of today.
- They may be included as communities of need or identity, such as disabled persons, or frail aged
people.
3. Community organizations:
range from informal family or kinship networks, to more formal incorporated associations, political
decision making structures, economic enterprises, or professional associations at a small, national or
international scale.
Classification of communities
By location
Possibly the most common usage of the word "community" indicates a large group living in close
proximity. Examples of local community include:
1. A municipality is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and
commonly referring to a town or village.
2. A neighborhood is a geographically localized community, often within a larger city or suburb.
3. A planned community is one that was designed from scratch and grew up more or less following the
plan.
- Several of the world's capital cities are planned cities, notably Washington, D.C., in the United States,
Canberra in Australia, and Brasília in Brazil.
By Identity
-In some contexts, "community" indicates a group of people with a common identity other than
location.
1. A "professional community" is a group of people with the same or related occupations. These are
also sometimes known as communities of practice.
2 A virtual community is a group of people primarily or initially communicating or interacting with
each other by means of information technologies, typically over the Internet, rather than in person.
By Overlaps
-Some communities share both location and other attributes.
-Members choose to live near each other because of one or more common interests.
1. A retirement community is designated and at least usually designed for retirees and seniors—often
restricted to those over a certain age, such as 56.
2. An intentional community is a deliberate residential community with a much higher degree
of social communication than other communities.
- The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political or
spiritual vision and share responsibilities and resources.
- Intentional communities include Amish villages, ashrams, cohousing, communes,
ecovillages, housing cooperatives, kibbutzim, and land trusts.
Functions of the community
Communities provide geographical identity.
Communities provide cultural identity.
Communities provide human resources
Communities instill a sense of patriotism
Communities enable provision of service
Communities facilitate sharing of responsibilities.
SOCIETY
-Society is defined as a group of people of mutually Independent people who have been organized in
such a way as to share common culture and feelings of unity.
-It can also be defined as large number of people who live in the same territory, are relatively
independent of people outside it, and participate in a common culture.
Types of societies
-Sociologists classify societies by their subsistence strategy.
1. Preindustrial society: This is a type of society in which food production is carried out through the
use of human and animal labour.
2. Industrial society: This is a type of society in which the mechanized Production of goods is the
main economic activities.
3. Post Industrial society: This is the type of society in which the economic activities centres on the
production of information and the provision of services.
Week thirteen
-Unifying the Group: It serves to draw the line between conforming members of society and non
conforming members.
-Diffusing Tension: Minor acts of deviance serves as safety valve, allowing individuals to diffuse
tension and distributing smooth running of society.
-Provide jobs: Being deviant calls for people to dispense justice. These include the police officers,
judges, lawyers and prison warders.
-Clarifying Norms: Members of society are reminded of the norms of society when people are caught
.This sets the boundaries for .acceptable behavior.
DRUG ABUSE
- A drug is defined as either a natural or synthetic chemical substance which one introduces into the
body which changes the metabolic functions of the body and its organs.
- It can also be understood as a substance used in medicine or substance that one takes for pleasure or
excitement especially causing addiction.
Types of drugs
- Natural drugs: Natural drugs are found in certain plants e.g. caffeine and nicotine.
- Synthetic drugs: Synthetic drugs are those produced in laboratory e.g morphine and mandrax.
Categories of drugs
- Drugs fall under three 3 categories namely:
Legal drugs
Over the counter drugs
Controlled or illicit drugs
Classification of drugs
Depressants:
-These are drugs that slow down the action of the central nervous system, thereby slowing
down the body processes e.g. alcohol and valium.
Stimulants:
-These are drugs that stimulate the central nervous system thereby speeding up the body
processes e.g. caffeine and cola.
Narcotics:
-These are the drugs that dull the sense and relieve pain by depressing the Cerebral Cortex
which also affects the body’s mood regulation e.g. morphine and codeine.
Hallucigens:
-Theses are drugs that distort the way the brain translates impulse from sensory organs
producing perception change e.g. ecstasy and mescaline Cannabis;
Predatory Drugs:
These drugs are used to facilitate sexual assault by rendering the victim incapable of resisting
sexual assault by rendering the victim incapable of resisting sexual assault e.g. rohypho and
kesamin.
Causes of drug abuse Peer pressure:
So much has been written and said about drugs that many people are attempted to experience them.
-Curiosity: So much has been written and said about drugs that many people are attempted to
experience them.
-Ignorance: This refers to not having adequate information about drugs and their side effects
when taken.
-Alienation: An individual feeling isolated may join a group which takes drugs.
-Unemployment: Students find it difficult to find employment after school or training and tend
to resort to drug abuse.
-Problems: Wanting to escape from psychological, emotional or financial problems has led
people to become addicted to drugs.
Signs and symptoms of drug abuse
- Objects that may indicate drug abuse
Small plastic bottles with – straws
Syringes and needles
Butane gas containers
Cigarette papers and lighters
- Behavior at school and work
Poor performance at work and school
Absenteeism in actives
Lack of interest in activities
Extreme activity or passiveness
- Social behavior
Change in personality and behavior
Temper flare ups and hostility
Frequent borrowing of money
Un explained presence in old places e.g store areas
Lack of appetite or to much appetite
Shabbiness instead of former tidiness
Treatment
Stabilising of family and wok relationships
Consistent strict actions against abuse
Establishment of intimate grouping
Religions defense against drug abuse
Counseling and rehabilitation services
Safety should be recommended by social welfare officers
Management
Stopping the selling and buying of drugs
Fining and imprisonment of drug trafficking
Offering counseling
Concept of Urbanization
Definition:
-defined as the concentration of people in the urban areas due to economic activities taking place.
-Also defined as the process in which people service and opportunities are concentrated in a limited
geographical area.
Push factors
-These are elements which push people move from one rural area to urban areas namely
General increase in educational levels in rural areas
Lack of employment opportunities in rural areas
Structural adjustment programme (SAP) has destroyed rural industries
Lack of provision of social service
Less economic activities taking place in rural areas
Urban bias in development strategies
Not technological sophistication metropolitan growth
Pull factors
These are elements which attracts people to move from rural areas to urban areas namely: 81
Availability of employment opportunities in town and cities
More development activities taking place urban areas
Social amenities or service in urban areas
There is a lot of economic activities happening in urban areas
Technological advancement taking place in urban areas
Urban areas have industries which need skilled labour
Structural Adjustments Programme
-SAP is an approach to managing the economy based on model guided principles of new liberal
-capitalism which include:
Uncontrolled free market
Primacy of private control of capital
Minimal role of the state
- In the early 1990’s Zambia adopted the fast track approach to implementing SAP reform,
progress has made in
Macroeconomic stability
Inflation brought under control
Exchange rate determined by the market
Prices are regulated by the market
Removal of all subsides
Government deficit had been eliminated
- Although this has been favorable to the stability of the economy , it has had detrimental
effects on the general standards of living in terms of:
Social costs of SAP in urban areas has been enormous
Majority of the population now live poverty and no empowerment in employment
Resources available in dealing with of poverty , employment and income
Urban consumers have been especially venerable in deteriorating of trade .
Ways of bringing up balance development
Deliberate investing in rural areas
Give concessions to rural investment
Development of infrastructure
Govt adopt a mixed kind of economy
Revamp rural industries
Adopt integral and sustainable approach to development
Sharing national income equally
Week 15
Unit 15: GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT
Definitions
-Gender is defined as the behavioural and psychological traits considered appropriate for male and
females
-Development is defined as qualitative and quantitative transformation from lower level to higher level.
Gender roles
Expectations regarding the proper behavior, altitudes and activities of a male or female
Socially and culturally determined
Change with time and can be performed by either male or female
Child care assigned to female while economic and physical support by male.
Sex roles
Duties which people perform because of being male or female
Biologically determined
Do not change, and are the same in all cultures.
Breastfeeding is done by females while impregnating is done by male
Stereo typing
Stereo- typing is system of assigning district duties to be performed by female separate from
male.
Cooking and sweeping has only been done by female while cutting poles has only to be done
by male
Effects of stereotyping
Does not promote individual potential and abilities
Promotes Laziness on the sex
Hinder women full participation
Gender and education
Gender expectations extend to school and career.
Male are expected to be good at maths and science while females are expected to be good at art and
social sciences.
More men pursue degree in science , engineering and businesses which leads to high paying
jobs .Women tend to concerted in social science and humanities which lead to lower paying careers
Gender Policies
-Progress towards gender equalities is being made in almost every area of social life.
-Government has to put up gender policies in order to redress gender inequalities
-Gender policy are made with the aim of leveling the playing field for both female and male to
be involved in all areas of development
Feminism
-Belief in the fight for the interest of women .
-The issue of equality in gender is cardinal to behavior and organization.
-Women movement United Nations in 19980’s raised general awareness of women issues
through the world.
-Conference on women 19-4 was held in Nairobi world conference in 1995 was held in buying
All conference emphasis that women become equal partners in development.
Goal of women movement
-Promote women to become equal partners in development; areas of development are social,
economical and political.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Inmates.
3. Arnett, Jeffrey J. 1995. Broad and Narrow Socialization: The Family in the Context of a Cultural
Theory. Journal of Marriage and the Family
4. Decety, Jean, Kalina J. Michalska, and Yuko Akitsuki. 2008. Who caused the pain? An Investigation
of Empathy and Intentionality in Children. Neuropsychologia.
5. Goffman, Erving. 1961. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other
Inmates.
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http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
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