TOPIC 1

The Sociological Perspective

PUTTING SOCIAL LIFE INTO

PERSPECTIVE

Putting Social Life Into

Perspective
Sociology is the systematic study of
human society and social interaction.
Sociologists study societies and
social interactions to develop
theories of :
How human behavior is shaped by
group life.
How group life is affected by individuals.

Why Study Sociology?

Helps us gain a better understanding of
ourselves and our social world
Helps us see how behavior is shaped by
the groups to which we belong and our
society
Promotes understanding and tolerance by
helping us look beyond personal
experiences and gain insight into the
larger world order

Society
A society is a large social grouping
that shares the same geographical
territory and is subject to the same
political authority and dominant
cultural expectations, such as the
United States, Mexico, or Nigeria.

The Sociological Imagination

The ability to see the relationship
between individual experiences
and the larger society
Distinguishes between personal
troubles and public issues

Personal Troubles
Personal troubles are private
problems that affect individuals and
the networks of people with which
they associate regularly.
Example: One person being unemployed
or running up a high credit card debt
could be identified as a personal trouble.

Public Issues
Public issues are problems that
affect large numbers of people and
require solutions at the societal level.
Widespread unemployment and
massive, nationwide consumer debt are
examples of public issues.

Overspending as a Personal
Trouble
People may accummulate credit cards and
spend more than they can afford, affecting
all aspects of their lives, including health,
family relationships, and employment
stability.
Sociologist George Ritzer suggests that
people may overspend through a gradual
process of easy credit.

Overspending as a Public Issue

Between 1990 and 2000, credit card
debt tripled in the United States.
As corporations write off bad debt
from those who declare bankruptcy
or do not pay their bills, all
consumers pay either directly or
indirectly for that debt.

Overspending as a Public Issue

Poverty is forgotten as a social issue
when more affluent people are having
a spending holiday and consuming all
they can afford to purchase.
Sociologist Robert D. Manning found
that students are aggressively
targeted by credit card companies
even though it is accepted that some
of the students will ruin their credit
while still in college.

IMPORTANCE OF A GLOBAL
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION

Importance of a Global
Sociological Imagination
Although existing sociological theory
and research provide a foundation
for sociological thinking, we must
develop a more global approach for
the future.
In the 21st century, we face
important challenges in a rapidly
changing nation and world.

 A nation's place in the global

economy depends on whether they
are high-income, middle-income, or
low-income.
Poverty, political unrest,
environmental pollution, and natural
disasters are felt throughout the
world.

High Income Countries

Nations with highly industrialized economies;
technologically advanced industrial,
administrative, and service occupations.
Examples: United States, Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and
Western Europe.
Have a high standard of living and a lower
death rate due to advances in nutrition and
medical technology.
Personal debt may threaten economic even
among middle- and upper income people.

Middle Income Countries

Nations with industrializing
economies, particularly in urban
areas, and moderate levels of
national and personal income
Example: The nations of Eastern Europe
and many Latin American countries.

Low Income Countries

Primarily agrarian nations with little
industrialization and low levels of
national and personal income.
Examples: Many of the nations of Africa
and Asia, particularly the Peoples
Republic of China and India, where
people typically work the land and are
among the poorest in the world.

Individual experiences and perceptions

are influenced by:
Race--groups of people distinguished by
physical characteristics such as skin color.
Ethnicity--the cultural heritage or identity
of a group based on factors such as
language or country of origin.
Class--the relative location of a person or
group within the larger society, based on
wealth, power, prestige, or other valued
resources.

 Sex--the biological and anatomical

differences between females and males.
Gender--the meanings, beliefs, and
practices associated with sex differences,
referred to as femininity and masculinity.

THE ORIGINS OF
SOCIOLOGICAL THINKING

The Origins of Sociological Thinking

The first systematic analysis of
society is found in the philosophy of
the early Greeks.
The scientific revolution of the
seventeenth century inspired social
thinkers to believe that advances
could be made in the systematic
study of human behavior.

 In France, the Enlightenment was dominated

by the philosophers, including
Montesquieu, Rousseau, and Turgot.
They believed human society could be
improved through scientific discoveries.
If people were free from the ignorance of the
past, they could create new forms of political
and economic organization, which would
produce wealth and destroy the aristocracy.

Sociology and the Age of Revolution,

Industrialization, and Urbanization
The Enlightenment produced an intellectual
revolution in how people thought about
social change, progress, and critical thinking.
Views of the philosophers regarding equal
opportunity stirred political and economic
revolutions in America and France.
The Industrial Revolution occurred in the
19th and 20th centuries, when economic,
technological, and social changes occurred as
technology shifted from agriculture to
manufacturing.

Sociology and the Age of Revolution,

Industrialization, and Urbanization
Industrialization is the process by which
societies are transformed from
dependence on agriculture and handmade
products to an emphasis on manufacturing
and related industries.
Urbanization is the process by which an
increasing proportion of a population lives
in cities rather than in rural areas.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF
MODERN SOCIOLOGY

August Comte (1798-1859)

Considered the founder of sociology.
Comtes philosophy became known as
positivism a belief that the world
can best be understood through
scientific inquiry.
Comte believed objective, bias-free
knowledge was attainable only through
the use of science rather than religion.

Comte's positivism had two

dimensions:
Methodological - the application of
scientific knowledge to physical and
social phenomena.
Social and political - the use of such
knowledge to predict the likely
results of different policies so that
the best one could be chosen.

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)

Translated and condensed Comte's
work
Studied the social customs of Britain
and the United States
Advocated for racial and gender
equality

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

Spencers major contribution to
sociology was an evolutionary
perspective on social order and social
change.
Social Darwinism - the belief that
those human beings, best adapted to
their environment survive and
prosper, whereas those poorly
adapted die out.

Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

Stressed that people are the product of
their social environment
Important concepts
Social facts--patterned ways of acting,
thinking, and feeling that exist outside any one
individual but that exert social control over
each person
Anomiea condition in which social control
becomes ineffective because of the loss of
shared values

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Viewed history as a clash between
conflicting ideas and forces.
Believed class conflict produced
social change and a better society.
Combined ideas from philosophy,
history, and social science into a new
theory.

Max Weber (1864-1920)

Believed sociological research
should exclude personal values and
economic interests.
Provided insights on rationalization,
bureaucracy and religion.

Georg Simmel (1858-1918)

Theorized about society as a web of
patterned interactions among people.
Analyzed how social interactions vary
depending on the size of the social
group.
Distinguished between form and
content of social interaction.

Jane Adams (1860-1935)

Founded Hull House, one of the most
famous settlement houses, in
Chicago.
One of the authors of a methodology
text used by sociologists for the next
forty years.
Awarded Nobel Prize for assistance to
the underprivileged.

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
One of the first to note the identity
conflict of being both a black and an
American.
Pointed out that people in the U.S.
espouse values of democracy,
freedom, and equality while they
accept racism and group
discrimination.

CONTEMPORARY THEORETICAL
PERSPECTIVES

Contemporary Theoretical
Perspectives
Theory - a set of logically interrelated
statements that attempt to describe,
explain, and predict social events

Functionalist Perspectives
Functionalist perspectives are based
on the assumption that society is a
stable, orderly system.
Society is composed of interrelated
parts, each of which serves a
function and contributes to the
overall stability of society.

Functionalist Perspective
Manifest functions are intended
and recognized by the participants in
a social unit.
Latent functions are unintended
functions that are hidden and remain
unacknowledged by participants.
Dysfunctions are undesirable
consequences.

Conflict perspectives:
Conflict perspectives see groups in
society as engaged in a continuous
power struggle for the control of the
scarce resources.
Conflict may take the form of
politics, litigation, negotiation, or
family discussions.

Conflict perspectives:
The neo-Marxist approach stresses
class conflict.
A second branch focuses on racialethnic inequalities.
The feminist branch focuses on
gender issues.

Symbolic Interactionist
Perspectives:
The symbolic interactionist approach
is a micro level analysis focusing
on small group rather than whole
societies or large scale social
structures (macro level).
According to symbolic interactionists,
society is the sum of interactions of
individuals and groups.

Symbolic Interactionist
Perspectives:
A symbol is anything that
meaningfully represents something
elsesigns, gestures, or words.
Symbols help people derive meaning
from social situations.
Individual personalities and the self
are developed from social
experience.

Postmodern Perspectives:
Postmodern perspectives argue that
existing theories have been
unsuccessful in explaining social life
in contemporary societies
characterized by postindustrialization, consumerism, and
global communication.
Postmodern societies are based on
information and consumerism.

Comparing Sociology with Other Social

Sciences
Anthropology seeks to understand
human existence over geographic
space and evolutionary time.
Sociology seeks to understand
contemporary social organization,
relations, and change.

Comparing Sociology with Other Social

Sciences
Psychology is the study of behavior
and mental processes - what occurs
in the mind.
Sociological research examines the
effects of groups, organizations, and
institutions on social life.

Comparing Sociology with Other Social

Sciences
Economists focus on economic
systems such as monetary policy,
inflation, and the national debt.
Sociologists focus on a number of
social institutions, one of which is the
economy.

Comparing Sociology with Other Social

Sciences
Political scientists concentrate on
political institutions.
Sociologists study political
institutions within the context of
other social institutions, such as
families.