Charles Cooley
Presented by Zach and Griselda
Background
Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929)
Father, Thomas Cooley, was an ambitious, outgoing
man.
Lawyer, justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan, Dean of the
University of Michigan Law School
Prone to illness as a child and had a speech
impediment.
Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering
Not a subject he liked
Background
Married Elsie Jones and had 3 children
Developed a strong interest in Sociology, but there was no such department
at Michigan
Ph.D. in political economy and minor in sociology
Dissertation was The Theory of Transportation
His work
Pragmatism: “Held that truth was to be tested, above all, by the practical
consequences of an idea, by action rather than theories” (Bailey, st al.,
1998:583).
Spent career devoted to self-examination and observation of the behavior
of his children.
Taught theory of evolution course at Michigan.
Helped in founding of the American Sociological Association.
Intellectual Influences
William James
Applied to society the kind of approach James applied to the self
“Self” is similar to “social self”
James Baldwin
Uses much of the data from Baldwin’s case studies and social-psychological orientation.
Pragmatism method
Charles Darwin
Admired sense of the complex interrelationships that governed the natural world.
Concepts and Contributions - Organic View
The Organic View of Society
“All nature, all life, human life, and social life are interrelated,
interdependent, and interconnected unities”
Holistic view arguing no part of society should be considered in isolation
Society lives and grows through interaction between parts
Any harm to one part is a harm to the whole
Triadic relationship: primary group, human nature, and looking-glass self
Concepts and Contributions - Primary Group
The Primary Group
Groups “characterized by intimate face-to-face
association and cooperation,” personal
relationships, and
Play a key role in linking individuals to society
Earliest, most basic social unity experiences
Fundamental Properties:
1. Face-to-face association
2. Unspecified nature of
associations
3. Relative permanence
4. A small number of
persons involved
5. Relative intimacy of
participants
Individuals forming a common whole
Secondary
Aim to Groups
help group- members are related formally and impersonally
To grow, new primary groups must be sought out
Concepts and Contributions - Looking-Glass Self
The Looking-Glass Self - An individual's self-image
mirrors the imagined reactions of others to their
appearance, demeanor, and behavior
We see ourselves as others see us
Received messages are interpreted
Generally, reactions from significant others are
more important than those from strangers
Children learn that their actions cause reactions
in others, allowing them to manipulate their
environment
Three key principles of the
looking-glass self theory:
1. The imagination of our
appearance to the other
person
2. The imagination of their
judgement of that
appearance
3. Our resulting self-feeling
such as pride or
mortification
Concepts and Contributions - The Self and “I”
The Self - formed in society, flexible and changing, responds to experience
Society and self are dialectical processes
Self is formed in interaction with others while society is composed of many selves
“I” - Pronoun used in a wide-variety of social contexts
To Describe Feelings - ”Feeling aspect of self” not most important but most instinctual
In Relation to the Body - “I” really refers to the opinions, feelings, and desires being express, not the
material body
In Relation to Habit - “habit and familiarity” are not enough for an idea to connect to the self
In Inanimate Objects - we perpetuate “I” into inanimate objects
To Society and Others - “I” relates to our self-feeling which is a product of our interactions
Concepts and Contributions - Social Process
Sympathetic Introspection - Putting one’s self in the place of the actor being
studied in order to analyze consciousness
Not just observing external behavior, but trying to understand why
Social Process - Primary group’s moral unity becomes an individual's source
of ideals which are then communicated, cementing social bonds.
Social organization - unity of social mind (ideals) and social structure
Public opinion - organic process where communication is key
Consensus is an organization, a cooperative product or structure
Questions Related to Charles Cooley
Define these terms as they are used by Cooley: looking-glass self, primary
and secondary groups.
Describe how Cooley defines social process.
Describe the key perspective by which Charles Cooley views society.
Organic View of Society
What do sociologists gain by viewing society from the perspective of Cooley?
Sympathetic Introspection
Pragmatism
Describe one key limitation to the way that Charles Cooley views society.
Sympathetic Introspection lacks scientific credibility of statistics
and scientific method
“Armchair sociologist”
Idealism and optimism