Sociology
Unit Four
Youth criminals shouldn't be treated as
adults.....Discuss!
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.
Sociology is the systematic and scientific
study of human social life.
 Sociologists study people as they form
groups and interact with one another.
 The groups they study may be small, such as
married couples, or large, such as a
subculture of suburban teenagers.
 Sociology places special emphasis on
studying societies, both as individual entities
and as elements of a global perspective.
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Three revolutions had to take
place before the sociological
imagination could crystallize:
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The scientific revolution (16th c.)
encouraged the use of evidence to
substantiate theories.
The democratic revolution (18th c.)
encouraged the view that human action
can change society.
The industrial revolution (19th c.) gave
sociologists their subject matter.

While sitting at your desk make clockwise
circles with your right foot. (go ahead no
one will see you) While doing this, draw
the number “6″ in the air with your right
hand.
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Your foot will change direction – that is a
fact. Pretty interesting, huh?
The Roles we Play
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We all play certain roles in our
society – Social Scientists refer
to this as status
Status is the term used to
describe our position within an
institution
eg. EL Crossley High School –
There are many positions at
Crossley ranging from teacher,
vice-principal, guidance
counselor, principal, student and
superintendent – Can you put
them in order on the
hierarchy?
Hierarchy
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Hierarchy is the ranking system used in
any particular environment based on
authority ot power
Each position or role requires a certain
type of expertise which is valued by
society
In order to distinguish between these
roles people are expected to dress and
act in a certain way
On any given day we can play many
different roles in society – eg. A parent
can drive their kids to school and then
go to work and teach their students
Sociological Imagination

The ability to see the
relationship between
individual experiences
and the larger society.
Private v. Public Issues
Another Brick in the Wall
 Pink Floyd (1979)
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvPpAPIIZyo
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LYRICS: We don’t need no education. We don’t
need no thought control. No dark sarcasm in the
classroom. Teachers leave them kids alone. Hey!
Teachers! Leave them kids alone! All in all it’s just
another brick in the wall. All in all you’re just
another brick in the wall.
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.People with higher number of moles tend to live longer than
people with lesser number of moles.
. When filming summer scenes in winter, actors suck on ice
cubes just before the camera rolls – it cools their mouths so
their breath doesn’t condense in the cold air.
. Thinking about your muscles can make you stronger.
. Grapefruit scent will make middle aged women appear
six years younger to men. The perception is not reciprocal
and the grapefruit scent on men has no effect on women’s
perception.
. The world’s youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in
China in 1910.
. The colder the room you sleep in, the better the chances
are that you’ll have a bad dream.
. There are more people alive today than have ever died.
. Women’s hair is about half the diameter of men’s hair
. Women blink twice as many times as men do.
. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour
less sleep a night.
Stereotypes
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. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune
system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh
15 to 100 times a day.
. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
. The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood
30 feet!
. The brain operates on the same amount of power as 10-watt light bulb. The
cartoon image of a light bulb over your head when a great thought occurs
isn’t too far off the mark.Your brain generates as much energy as a small
light bulb even when you’re sleeping.
. The brain is much more active at night than during the day.
. The brain itself cannot feel pain. While the brain might be the pain center
when you cut your finger or burn yourself, the brain itself does not have pain
receptors and cannot feel pain.
.The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger. And the nail on the middle
finger of your dominant hand will grow the fastest of all. Why is not entirely
known, but nail growth is related to the length of the finger, with the longest
fingers growing nails the fastest and shortest the slowest.
. The lifespan of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average.
. Human hair is virtually indestructible. Aside from it’s flammability, human
hair decays at such a slow rate that it is practically non-disintegrative. Hair
cannot be destroyed by cold, change of climate, water, or other natural
forces and it is resistant to many kinds of acids and corrosive chemicals.
What is the “glue” that
holds societies together?
What provides people
with a sense of
belonging?
Why are these
bubbles coming out
of my head?
Emile Durkheim
Concerned with social order and stability
 People are a product of their social
environment
 Human potential is socially based, not
biologically based
 Societies are built on social facts
 Rapid social change produces social strain
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Key Terms for Durkheim
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Social Facts
◦ Patterned ways of acting,
thinking, and feeling that exist
outside any one individual but
that exert social control over
each person.
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Anomie
◦ Social control becomes
ineffective as a result of the
loss of shared values and a
sense of purpose in society
Provide Some Examples
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Social Facts
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Anomie
Conflict is necessary to
produce social change and
a better society
I think today I will establish
a free and classless society
I, too, have these
bubbles popping
out my head!
Karl Marx
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History is a continuous clash between conflicting
ideas and forces
◦ Economic changes are most important
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Class conflict between capitalist class
(bourgeoisie) and the working class (proletariat)
◦ Alienation
◦ Fetishism of Commodities
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Society should be changed
Criticized for too much emphasis on class
struggle
They also believe that social institutions
(churches, schools, prisons etc.) have been
created to perpetuate the division between the
powerful and the powerless
Sociology should be valuefree – it should exclude the
researcher’s personal values
and economic interests
It really isn’t possible
for sociologists to be
value-free is it?
Then, we need to gain
the ability to see the
world as others see it
Max Weber

Bureaucracies – determines the social relationships
among people
◦ These are destructive to human vitality and freedom
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Rationalization – the modern world has become
dominated by structures devoted to:
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Efficiency
Calculability
Predictability
Technological Control
Emphasized the goal of value-free inquiry & necessity
of understanding how others see the world
Structural Functionalist
Based on the assumption that society is a
stable, orderly system (Durkheim)
 Societal Consensus
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◦ Common set of values, beliefs, behavioral
expectations
Society composed of inter-related parts
 Social structures and institutions persist
because they help society persist
 Strains
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Feminist Theory
Feminist Theorists focus on sex and gender
issues, believing that women have traditionally
been disadvantaged in society because men have
discriminated against them
 They believe that men have made the decisions in
society and that they tend to favour men.
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Conflict Perspective
Groups in society are
engaged in continuous power
struggle for control of scarce
resources (Marx, Weber)
 Encompasses several
branches:
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◦ Neo-Marxist (class struggle)
◦ Racial-Ethnic (exploitation)
◦ Feminist (gender issues)
Post-Modern
Existing theories have not
successfully explained social
life in a contemporary
society
 Society focused on a shift
from production to
consumption
 Postmodern Society
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◦ Information explosion
◦ Rise of a consumer society
◦ Global Village
Culture

The knowledge, language,
values, customs, and material
objects that are passed from
person to person and from
one generation to the next in a
human group or society
Reflection
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Why is culture important?
Material World
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Material Culture
◦ The physical or tangible (see, touch) that
members of a society make, use, and share
 Raw Materials → Technology → Stuff
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Non-Material Culture
◦ The abstract or intangible human creations of
society that influences people’s behavior
 Language, beliefs, values, rules of behavior, family
patterns, political systems
Cultural Universals

Customs and practices that occur across
all societies
Components of Culture
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Symbols
◦ Anything that meaningfully represents something else
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Language
◦ A set of symbols that expresses ideas and enable people to think
and communicate with one another
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Values
◦ Collective ideas about what is right or wrong, good or bad, and
desirable or undesirable in a particular culture
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Norms
◦ Established rules of behavior or standards of conduct
Come Up with Your Own
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With a partner, generate a list of the
following components of culture
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Symbols
Language
Values
Norms
Reflection
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Would you like to live in a place where
everyone:
◦ Is the same? (Homogeneous)
 or
◦ Is different? (Heterogeneous)
What is Diversity?
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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)
Have you ever been made to feel like an
outsider?
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When societal tensions arise, people may
look for others on whom they can place
blame or single out persons or groups
who are the “outsider”, who do not
belong.
Subculture
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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
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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
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◦ Can be positive or negative
Why might this map
be considered
ethnocentric?
Are Social Networking Sites Good
for Our Society?
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http://socialnetworking.procon.org/
What is the origin of romantic love? Originally, romantic
love was limited to affairs for medieval aristocrats such as
Tristan and Isolde, the subjects of a thirteenth century
court romance who inspired poems, operas, and films.
Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
“How would you like me to answer that question?
As a member of my ethnic group, educational class,
income group, or religious category?”
Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Globalization and Everyday Life
Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Globalization and Everyday Life
Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Table 1.2 A Sociologist’s Line of Questioning
Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Figure 1.2 Steps in the Research Process
Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
In looking at this painting by Brueghel, we can observe
the number of people, what each is doing, the style of the
buildings, or the colors the painter chose.
Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company
Table 1.3 Three of the Main Methods Used in
Sociological Research
Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition
Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company