Introduction
The Shelter
• You will be placed into groups 5-6
• In your groups please read the directions
at the top of the page
• As a group make decisions as to who you
will let into your shelter
Social Sciences
Anthropology: classification and analysis of
humans and their unique society, descriptively,
culturally, historically, and physically. Its unique
contribution to studying the bonds of human
social relations has been the distinctive concept
of culture. It has also differed from other
sciences concerned with human social
behaviour (especially sociology) in its emphasis
on data from non-literate peoples and
archaeological exploration.
Social Sciences
Psychology: science or study of the
thought processes and behaviour of
humans and other animals in their
interaction with the environment.
Psychologists study process of sense
perception, thinking, learning, cognition,
emotions and motivations, personality,
abnormal behaviours, interactions
between individuals, and interactions with
the environment.
Social Sciences
Sociology: scientific study of human social
behaviour. As the study of humans in their
collective aspect, sociology is concerned with all
group activities- economic, social, political, and
religious. Sociologists study such areas as
bureaucracy, community, deviant behaviour,
family, public opinion, social change, social
mobility, social stratification, and such specific
problems as crime, divorce, child abuse, and
substance addiction. Sociology tries to
determine the laws governing human behaviour
in social context.
Bias (or biased)
• Prejudice in a general or specific sense,
usually in the sense for having a
predilection to one particular point of view
or ideology.
• Example: ‘the news paper article was
biased in the report as they only reported
one point of view of what happened.”
Perception
• Having an understanding of what one
sees, the way one thinks, based on
experience.
• Example: A baby will not crawl on a glass
table because they cannot see the glass is
there, in their experience if they cannot
see it then it’s not really there.
Stereotype
• An oversimplified mental picture that
assigns certain characteristics to particular
groups.
• Example: ‘All girls like dolls. All boys like
sports.’
First Impressions
• The initial opinion one forms of a person,
place or event.
• Example: “When I first met her, she
seemed ‘snobbish’ but now that I know
her, I understand she is really shy.”
Reflection #1
• Based on the Shelter activity that we did in
class
• Complete the questions on the sheet
• This is a personal opinion assignment and
therefore there are no wrong answers BUT
be sure to support your opinion!
Evolution
See Mrs McTavish’s AMAZING slide show
on evolution…
And watch a film
Then complete the reflection questions
Age of Enlightenment and
Revolution
• Philosophes
• Democracy and capitalism would destroy
aristocracy and other oppressive forms of
political leadership
• American Revolution 1776, French
Revolution 1789 and urbanization and
industrialization in UK, Western Europe
and USA
• Intellectual revolution
Changes in Society
• Urbanization
– Housing shortage
– Crime
– Poverty
– Child labour
– Unsafe working conditions
– WHY?
Auguste Comte
• French philosopher
1798-1857
• Coined the term
sociology meaning
study of social (being
with others)
• Theory that societies
contain social statics
and social dynamics
Auguste Comte
• Social statics: forces for social order and
stability
• Social dynamics: forces for conflict and
change
• Positivism: a belief that the world can best
be understood through scientific inquiry
• Believed that objective, bias-free
knowledge only obtainable through
science not religion
Comte’s Positivism
• Methodological: the application of scientific
knowledge to both physical and social
phenomena
Social and political: the use of such
knowledge to predict the results of
different policies so that the best one could
be chosen
Sociological Imagination
• The ability to see the relationship between
individuals experiences and the larger
society.
• Helps to distinguish between personal
troubles and social issues.
Personal vs Social
• Personal issues
involve individuals or
their close network of
people
• It is private
• Can be resolved by
the individuals
involved
• Social or public
issues are those of
the greater society
• Beyond individual
control
• Some personal issues
may be driven by
social issues
Sociological Imagination
Race: there is one race: the human race
Ethnicity: refers to the cultural heritage or
identity of a group and is based on factors
such as language or country of origin.
Class: is the relative location of a person or
group within a larger society, based on
wealth, power, prestige, or other valued
resources.
Sociological Imagination
Sex: refers to the biological and anatomical
differences between females and males.
Gender: refers to the culturally and socially
constructed meanings, beliefs, and
practices associated with sex differences,
referred to as femininity and masculinity.
5 Theoretical Perspectives
5 Theoretical Perspectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Functionalist Perspective
Conflict Theory Perspective
Feminist Perspective
Symbolic Perspective
Postmodernist Perspective
Functional Perspective
Based on the assumption that society is, a
stable, orderly system. This stable system
is characterized by social consensus
whereby the majority of members share a
common set of values, beliefs, and
behavioural expectations.
Conflict Theory Perspective
• Groups in society are engaged in a
continuous power struggle for control of
scarce resources. Conflict may take the
form of politics, litigation, negotiations, or
family discussions about financial matters.
• The inevitability of clashes between social
groups (past)
• Social life as a continuous power struggle
among competing social groups (current)
Feminist Perspective
• Focus on the siginificance of gender in
understanding and explaining inequalities
that exist between men and women in the
household, in the paid labour force, and in
the realms of politics, law, and culture.
• Created by women to fill the missing gap
of their view on sociology
Symbolic Perspective
• According to symbolic interaction
perspectives, society in the sum of the
interactions of individuals and groups.
• Focus is on small groups rather than
large-scale social structures.
Postmodernist Perspective
• According to postmodernist perspectives,
existing theories have been unsuccessful
in explaining social life in contemporary
societies that are characterized by
postindustrialization, consumerism, and
global communication.
Micro vs Macro
• Microlevel analysis
focuses on a small
group rather than
large-scale social
structures
• Macrolevel analysis
examines whole
societies, large-scale
social structures, and
social systems.
Theoretical Perspective
Worksheet
In groups 2-3 discuss each statement and
determine which theoretical perspective
the sociologist is using.
Complete the sheet and then we will
discuss it as a class.
5 Ways of Knowing the World
1. Personal; we discover for ourselves the
things we know.
2. Tradition: people hold to a belief because
everyone knows it to be true.
3. Authority: experts tell us that something
is true.
5 Ways of Knowing the World
4. Religion: we accept the truths that our
particular scriptures and religious officials
advocate.
5. Science: the scientific was of knowing
which involves controlled systematic
observation; through public testing of all
statements.