O A man who is homeless is ____
O If you do not have a job, you are______
Personal
Societal
Sociology
O Social Behavior- how people behave in
groups
O Social Structure- PATTERNED interactions of
people
Social Perspective
O Looks as group/ Never individual
O Not relying on personal factors
O Concentrate on Categories: young men,
married women, teenagers
O Statements:
O A young man joins a gang to prove he is tough
O Young men join groups such as gangs
because they have been taught by society to
be masculine
O Statements:
O A young man joins a gang to prove he is tough
O Young men join groups such as gangs
because they have been taught by society to
be masculine
O Statements:
O A woman divorces her husband to develop
her potential
O More women divorce because of the social
trend toward sexual equality
Social Perspective Continued
O Groups vs. Individuals
O Group mentality
O Conformity vs. Deviation
O Smoking, What we wear, What
we eat
O “When in Rome, Do as
Romans Do”
O Big Picture- Everything has
wider economic and social
meaning. Lives are connected
to objects
Social Imagination
O C. Wright Mills
O Personal use of Sociology
O Relationships between events in personal
lives and events in their society
O Examples: Families with no children (Selfish),
only child (spoiled)
O Change in attitude today, (benefits of one child
families) Societal values***
Origins of
Sociology
European & American
Auguste Comte
O French
O Father of Sociology
O Positivism- Science based on truth
O Social Statics- Stability & Order
O Social Dynamics- change
Auguste Comte: The Law of Human Progress (or
The Law of Three Stages)
, , , Comte insists repeatedly that “intellectual
evolution is the preponderant principle” of
his explanation of human progress . . .
(Coser 1971:8)
Harriet Martineau
O English
O Translated Comte’s books
O Women lacked econ power due to
dependency on men
O Inspired- feminists theorists
O Called by William Davenport "the first of the
notable women of the nineteenth century,"
Herbert Spencer
O English
O Social Darwinism- poor should be poor, rich
should be rich
O Against social reform
O Let change happen naturally
Karl Marx
O Clash of Classes- class conflict
O Bourgeoisie- owners
O Proletariat- workers
Emile Durkheim
O French
O Society occurs due to agreement among
men
O Mechanical Solidarity- self sufficient, based
on traditions
O Organic Solidarity- interdependency, web of
specialized roles
Max Weber
O German
O Verstehen- understand
from different point of
view
O Rationalism- hard
evidence, no guesses or
luck
Jane Addams
O American
O Societal Problems- due to imbalance of
power among social classes
W.E.B. Dubois
O Studied racial discrimination
O Social Structure in African Communities
Critical Thinking?
O Why is Weber’s concept of Verstehen the
very essence of modern Sociology?