Sociology
Definition: the study of the origin,
development, and structure of
human societies and the behavior
of individual people and groups in
society
* Topics: Culture, Social
Structure, Groups,
Organizations, Social
Class, Education,
Sports, Population, and
Urbanization
• knowledge, language, values, customs, norms, and
material objects
• Varies from group to group
• Explain human social behavior
• Guide relationships with others
• A structured community of people
• Share a common culture
• the way of passing or learning knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and values from person to person
Formal- deliberate & intentional
Informal- through observation and imitation
Primary- intimate, face to face groups
Secondary- schools, churches, mass media
I.) What is Socialization?
Socialization: a process that begins at birth and is
ongoing in which individuals learn
human social behavior
II.) Agents of Socialization
Agents of Socialization: Members/groups within society that
influence individual human social
behavior
 Family
 School
 Peer Groups
 Mass Media
 Social Class
Family
Schools
•Think, Speak, Norms, Values,
• Hidden Curriculum
Beliefs, Attitudes, Relationships, • discipline, order, cooperation,
and Self-Image
conformity
• Rules & Regulations
Peer Groups
• make their own decisions
• develop self-sufficiency
• learn to get along with others
• experiment
Mass Media
• serve as role models to imitate
• teach ways of society
Self Concept: Image of oneself separate
from others
 “I” unlearned/spontaneous acts
 “Me”self-created acts of conformity
Looking Glass Self: what you think others
believe about you
 Perception
 Imagine
 Evaluate
Significant Others: people whose opinions are
most important to our self
concept
Role Taking: Seeing others through the eyes
of someone else
The Process:
 Imitation (18 months to 36 months)
 Play (3 years to 4 years)
 Game (5 years and up)
Generalized Other: Rely less on others and
more on understanding
I.) What exactly is a Group?
Group: at least two people who have one or more goals
in common and share common ways of thinking and
behaving
II.) A “Group” is not
Social Category: people who share a social characteristic
Social Aggregate: people who are temporarily in the same
place at the same time
III.) A “Group” is
Primary Group: people who know each other well, are
emotionally close, and seek one another's company
* Based on Primary Relationships (intimate, caring, personal, fulfilling)
How to develop?
• small in size
• face to face contact
• continual contact
• social environment
Examples:
Best Friends
Close Neighbors
Play Groups
Function?
• emotional support
• socialization
• conformity
Secondary Group: people who share only part of their lives
and are together to accomplish a task or goal
* Based on Secondary Relationships (impersonal, limited emotion)
Examples:
Clerks & Customers
Work Groups
Volunteers
How to develop?
• social environment
• segment of person’s life
Function?
• to accomplish a goal
• to complete a task
Reference Group: a group used for self-evaluation by
which one forms attitudes, beliefs, norms.
In Groups
Exclusive group
that demands
intense loyalty
Out Groups
Opposed by ingroup for
competition and
opposition
Examples:
Cliques, Teams, Countries, Races,
Gangs, Neighborhoods
IV.) Networks
Social Network: all of a person’s social relationships
• Not a “group” itself
• Includes both “primary” & “secondary” groups
Primary
Groups
(2)
Social
Aggregate
Social
Category
Secondary
Groups (2)
In-Group
I.) Social Stratification
Definition: hierarchical arrangement of individuals into divisions
based on dimensions within a society
Based on following dimensions:
 Income
 Wealth
 Power
 Prestige
Income: amount of money received
within a given period of time
by an individual or group
Wealth: all economic resources
possessed by an individual
(everything you own)
Power: ability to control the behavior
of others (attached to the
social positions we hold)
Prestige: level of respect/admiration
in which one is regarded
by others (based on social
position & voluntarily given)
II.) Layers of Social Stratification
Each layer represented by a “social class”
Definition: economic or cultural arrangement of groups
within a society based on variables
Examples of Variables:
• Education
• Income
• Occupation
• Family
• Power
• Prestige
III.) Social Inequality
Definition: individuals in a society that do not have equal social status
Examples of Social Inequality:
• Economic: inequality based on distribution
of wealth and income
• Gender: obvious or hidden inequality of
power/reward based on gender
• Racial: unequal treatment based on
physical characteristics
IV.) Explanations of Stratification
Conflict Theory:
Inequality exists due to willingness of other to exploit people
Inequality impedes progress
Those whom have power keep others powerless to keep status quo
Positions in society exist only as those in power deem them important
V.) Class Consciousness
Definition: the awareness of belonging to ones social class or
socioeconomic status within a given society
What is Social Mobility?
Definition: Movement from one class —or more usually
status group—to another
Types of Social Mobility
Horizontal Mobility
 Movement from one position to another within the
same social level
 Ex: Changing jobs without altering occupational
status
 Moving between social groups having the same
social status.
Vertical Mobility
 Movement from one social level to a higher one
(upward mobility) or a lower one (downward
mobility)
 Ex: Changing Jobs or Marrying
 Cultural diffusion from one social level to another
 The adoption by one economic class of the fashions
current or formerly current in a higher class.
Intergenerational Mobility
Movement within or between social classes and
occupations, the change occurring from one
generation to the next
Ex: Father to Son; Mother to Daughter
Social Institutions
“The Family”
So, what exactly is a family?
Family Definition: a group of people related by either blood,
marriage, or adoption
- definition varies from society to society
- definition can change over time
Family of Orientation: family that one is born into
∞ Gives name identity
∞ Give heritage
∞ Gives ascribed status
∞ Grants orientation to the world
Family of Procreation: established upon marriage
∞ Legal to have children
∞ Gives name
∞ Becomes ones family of orientation
∞ Grants orientation to the world
Social Institutions:
“Education”
I.) History of Schools and Education
A. Early purpose:
1. Enculturation (passing of culture)
2. Socialization (passing social values
& behaviors)
B. Pre-Literate Societies: taught orally &
by imitation by family & the
community
C. Literate Societies: taught literacy and
basic skills
Social Institutions:
“Religion”
I.) The Sociological Study of Religion
A. Sociologists DO:
1. Examine the cultural and social aspects of religion that can
be measured and observed
B. Sociologists DO NOT:
1. Study the unobservable
spiritual side
2. Determine which religions
people should follow
The Sociological Meaning of Religion
A. Definition of Religion:
1. Unified system of beliefs & practices
concerned with sacred things
B. Sociological Separation:
1. Sacred: holy; set apart and dedicated
to a religious purpose
2. Secular: not religious or spiritual in
nature
C. Sociological Observable Displays of Religion: (Religiosity)
1. Beliefs = what people consider as true (is a God vs. no God)
2. Rituals = private or public acts (church/prayer)
3. Intellectual Dimension = knowledge about faith (scripture)
4. Experience = feeling attached to expression (closeness to)
5. Consequences = decisions made based on religion (abstinence)
Demography: The Study of Population
• Demography
– The study of human population
• Fertility
– The incidence of childbearing in a country’s
population
• Crude birth rate
– The number of live births in a given year for
every 1,000 people in a population
• Mortality
– The incidence of death in a country’s population
• Crude death rate
– The number of deaths in a given year for every 1,000
people in a population
• Infant mortality rate
– The number of deaths among infants under one year
of age for each 1,000 live births in a given year
• Life expectancy
– The average life span of a country’s population
• Migration
– The movement of people into and out of a specified
territory
– Immigration
• In-migration rate
– Number of people entering an area for every 1,000 people in the
population
– Emigration
• Out-migration rate
– The number of people leaving for every 1,000 people
– Both types usually happen at once
• Push-pull factors
• Demographic transition theory
– Links population patterns to a society’s level of
technological development
– Stage 1 – Pre-industrial agrarian societies
• High birth rate, high death rate
– Stage 2 – Industrialization
• Death rate falls, birth rates remain high
– Stage 3 – Mature industrial economy
• Birth rate drops, death rate drops
– Stage 4 – Postindustrial economy
• Demographic transition complete
• Low-birth rate, steady death rate
• Japan, Europe, and the U.S.
• Environmental Deficit
– Profound long-term harm to the natural environment
caused by humanity’s focus on short-term material
affluence
• Environmental concerns are sociological
• Environmental damage to air, land, or water is
unintended
• Environmental deficit is reversible
– Societies create environmental problems
– Societies can undo many of them
What is Diversity?
• Cultural diversity refers to the wide range of
cultural differences found between and within
nations
– Can be a result of natural circumstances (climate,
geography) or social circumstances (technology or
demographics)
– Societies can be homogeneous or heterogeneous
– Heterogeneity in the U.S. (see chart – p. 91)
Subculture
• A category of people who share distinguishing
attributes, beliefs, values, and/or norms that
set them apart in some significant manner
from the dominant culture.
Counterculture
• A group that strongly rejects dominant
societal values and norms and seeks
alternative lifestyles
Ethnocentrism
• The practice of judging all other cultures by
one’s own culture
• Based on the assumption that one’s own way
of life is superior to all others
– Can be positive or negative
Why might
this map be
considered
ethnocentric?
Cultural Relativism
• The belief that the behaviors and customs of
any culture must be viewed and analyzed by
the culture’s own standards
Sociological Perspectives on Race and
Ethnicity
• Race – A group of people who have been identified as
having real or alleged physical characteristics. It is the fact
that these biological traits are endowed with social
meaning that brings them into the realm of the social
sciences.
• Ethnicity – refers to people who share common cultural
characteristics and ethnic identity; they share a sense of
“oneness”, and a shared fate.
• Marriage across racial and ethnic lines, while not
uncommon, is not typical for sociological and
demographic reasons; attitudes, beliefs, access.
Race vs ethnicity
• Race is often treated as ideology
– ethnicity as a real phenomenon.
• Racial refers mainly to physical terms,
– ethnic rather to cultural terms.
• Race refers to them,
– ethnicity to us.
• Both concepts always imply social relationship.
Sociological Perspectives on Race and
Ethnicity
• Minority – a group that has less power than the dominant
group, has less esteem and prestige, and is often the target of
discrimination. The two major characteristics are distinctive
identity and subordination. The sociological meaning of
minority does not refer to the numerical size of a group, nor to
any specific ethnicity, race, or other real or imaged factors as
these factors are relative to a specific society.
esteem – the honor that accrues to an individual filling
a position
prestige – the honor associated with an occupation or
other
position in a social system
Sociological Perspectives on Race and
Ethnicity
• Prejudice – an attitude which predisposes an individual to
prejudge entire categories of people unfairly. This attitude is
rigid, often emotionally loaded, and resistant to change; “refencing” and closed mindedness.
• Discrimination is a behavior resulting in unfair, unequal, or
harmful treatment based upon a prejudice.
• One may confront discrimination by focusing on attitudes,
behaviors, or both. It is usually most effective to begin with the
discriminatory behaviors in order to provide some relief for
those discriminated against. The official organs of the state
must support these efforts to eliminate discriminatory
behaviors or they will most likely continue; institutional
discrimination.
Sociological Perspectives on Race and
Ethnicity
•
Stereotype – a rigid and often inaccurate image that
summarizes a belief. Because stereotypes reflect beliefs
rather than facts, they are often illogical and self-serving.
(Discussion)
•
Stereotypes persist in culture because: (functions for those
using them)
a) stereotypes can work to elevate the status of the group
which engages in it;
b)
stereotyping reduces the need to think by creating
“universals”, and not having to acknowledge individualistic
characteristics; and,
c) Stereotyping can work as a social-psychological mechanism
for reducing guilt in the minds of those who practice
prejudice and discrimination
Sociological Perspectives on Race and
Ethnicity
•
Stereotype –particular stereotypes are often used for
different groups, such as the concept of “laziness”.
Laziness has been applied to Blacks, Hispanics, Polish,
Irish, and Native-Americans. It has also been used to
explain why someone is the member of a lower class or
poor.
•
COGNITIVE LEVEL
– THE IDEA OR THOUGHT
• JEWISH PEOPLE ARE GREEDY
•
EMOTIONAL LEVEL
– ATTACHING FEELINGS TO IDEA
• LEARNING TO FEEL ANGER TOWARDS WHITES
•
ACTION-ORIENTATION LEVEL
– PREDISPOSITION TO ACT (discrimination)
• MORE LIKELY TO VERBALLY OR PHYSICALLY ATTACK A
TARGETTED GROUP
• VERBALIZATION
– JOKES, COMMENTS, RACIAL SLURS
• EXCLUSION
– KEEPING PEOPLE MARGINAL
• AVOIDANCE
– NOT TRAVELING IN CERTAIN AREAS
• PHYSICAL ABUSE
– PHYSICAL ATTACKS
• GENOCIDE
– SYSTEMATIC KILLING OFF OF A GROUP
• PREJUDICE AND
DISCRIMINATION BEGIN
AS ETHNOCENTRIC
ATTITUDES
• AS A RESULT, GROUPS CAN
BE PLACED IN A
SITUATION WHERE THEY
ARE SOCIALLY
DISADVANTAGED AND
LABELED
• A GROUP’S SITUATION,
OVER TIME, IS THUS
EXPLAINED AS A RESULT
OF INNATE INFERIORITY
RATHER THAN LOOKING
AT THE SOCIAL
STRUCTURE FOR
REASONS; THE CYCLE
THEN REPEATS ITSELF