GC 203 - Foundations of Guidance and Counseling
Presented by:
Faye Abegail L. Torralba
• He established a sociology department in Germany at
the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich in 1919.
• Wrote on many topics related to sociology including
political change in Russia and is known best for his
1904 book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism.
• Weber believed that it was difficult, if not impossible,
to use standard scientific methods to accurately
predict the behavior of groups as some sociologists
hoped to do. Weber argued that the influence of
culture on human behavior had to be taken into
account
• Weber and Wilhelm Dilthey introduced the concept of
verstehen, a German word that means to understand
in a deep way. In seeking verstehen, outside
observers of a social world—an entire culture or a
small setting—attempt to understand it from an
insider’s point of view.
• He and other like-minded sociologists proposed a
philosophy of anti-positivism whereby social
researchers would strive for subjectivity as they
worked to represent social processes, cultural norms,
and societal values.
• The different approaches to research based on
positivism or anti-positivism are often considered the
foundation for the differences found today between
quantitative sociology and qualitative sociology.
• Mead studied at Oberlin College and Harvard
University. During 1891–94 he was instructor in
philosophy and psychology at the University of
Michigan.
• To social psychology, Mead’s main contribution was
his attempt to show how the human self arises in the
process of social interaction. He thought that spoken
language played a central role in this development.
• His work focused on the ways in which the mind and
the self were developed as a result of social
processes.
• Mead felt that an individual’s reaction to a positive or
negative reflection depended on who the ‘other’ was.
• Individuals that had the greatest impact on a person’s
life were significant others while generalized others
were the organized and generalized attitude of a
social group.
• She won worldwide recognition in the first third of
the twentieth century as a pioneer social worker in
America. American social reformer and pacifist,
cowinner (with Nicholas Murray Butler) of the Nobel
Prize for Peace in 1931.
• She is best known as a cofounder of Hull House in
Chicago, one of the first social settlements in North
America. It is a center that served needy immigrants
through social and educational programs while
providing extensive opportunities for sociological
research. Addams also successfully advocated for
social reform.
• Research conducted at Hull House informed child
labor, immigration, health care, and other areas of
public policy.
• Addams believed that effective social reform required
the more- and less-fortunate to get to know one
another and also required research into the causes of
poverty. She worked for protective legislation for
children and women and advocated for labour
reforms. She strove for justice for immigrants and
African Americans, and she favored women’s suffrage.
• a Harvard-trained historian, pioneered the use of
rigorous empirical methodology into sociology.
• He is the most important Black protest leader in the
United States during the first half of the 20th century.
• His groundbreaking 1896-1897 study of the African
American community in Philadelphia incorporated
hundreds of interviews Du Bois conducted in order to
document the familial and employment structures and
assess the chief challenges of the community
• His scientific approach became highly influential to
entire schools of sociological study, and is considered
a forerunner to contemporary practices.
• Du Bois’ 1899 publication provided empirical evidence
to challenge pseudoscientific ideas of biological racism
(Morris, 2015; Green & Wortham, 2018), which had
been used as justification to oppress people of
different races. Du Bois also played a prominent role in
the effort to increase rights for Black people.
• In 1905, he and others drafted a declaration that
called for immediate political, economic, and social
equality for African Americans.
• He helped found the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served
as its director of publications.
It sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the
biological and social needs of the individuals in that society.
" just as the various organs of the body work together to
keep the body functioning, the various parts of society work
together to keep society functioning "
Durkheim believed that society is a complex system of interrelated and
interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability
"to study society, a sociologist must look beyond individuals
to social facts such as laws, morals, values, religious beliefs,
customs, fashion, and rituals, which all serve to govern
social life"
Dynamic Equilibrium was used by later sociologists such as Talcott Parsons
"the function of any recurrent activity as the part it played
in social life as a whole, and therefore the contribution it
makes to social stability and continuity"
These are consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated.
A manifest function of a college education, for example, includes gaining
knowledge, preparing for a career, and finding a good job that utilizes that
education.
These are the unsought consequences of a social process. Latent functions
of one's college years include meeting new people, participating in
extracurricular activities, or even finding a spouse or partner. Latent
functions can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful.
Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of
society. In education, examples of dysfunction include getting bad grades,
truancy, dropping out, not graduating, and not finding suitable employment.
The way inequities and inequalities contribute to social, political, and power
differences and how they perpetuate power.
"society is made up of individuals in different social classes
who must compete for social, material, and political
resources such as food and housing, employment,
education, and leisure time"
Social institutions like government, education, and religion reflect this
competition in their inherent inequalities and help maintain the unequal social
structure. The perpetuation of power results in the perpetuation of oppression.
"society is made up of individuals in different social classes
who must compete for social, material, and political
resources such as food and housing, employment,
education, and leisure time"
People’s reactions to inequality were moderated by class differences and rates
of social mobility, as well as by perceptions about the legitimacy of those in
power.
"in addition to economic inequalities, inequalities of
political power and social structure cause conflict"
The intensity of the conflict varies depending on the emotional involvement of
the parties, the degree of solidarity within the opposing groups, and the clarity
and limited nature of the goals.
"The stronger the bond, the weaker the discord. Resolving
conflicts can reduce tension and hostility and can pave the
way for future agreements"
A critical theory is a holistic theory and attempts to address structural issues
causing inequality. It must explain what’s wrong in current social reality,
identify the people who can make changes, and provide practical goals for
social transformation
Frankfurt School, group of researchers
associated with the Institute for Social
Research in Frankfurt am Main, Germany,
who applied Marxism to a radical
interdisciplinary social theory.
Communication—the exchange of meaning through language and symbols—is
believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds
"humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed
to those things; the ascribed meaning of things comes from
our interactions with others and society; the meanings of
things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things
in specific circumstances"
Social scientists who apply symbolic-interactionist thinking look for patterns
of interaction between individuals. Their studies often involve observation of
one-on-one interactions.
For example, while a conflict theorist studying a political protest might focus
on class difference, a symbolic interactionist would be more interested in
how individuals in the protesting group interact, as well as the signs and
symbols protesters use to communicate their message.
The approach to analyzing social interactions using the metaphor of a theatrical
performance, viewing a social situation as a scene and people as actors who
strategically present themselves to impress others.
"Individuals were actors in a play. We switched roles,
sometimes minute to minute—for example, from student
or daughter to dog walker. Because it can be unclear what part
a person may play in a given situation, he or she has to
improvise his or her role as the situation unfolds"
It uses the conflict approach to examine the maintenance of gender roles and
inequalities.
"The “hot topic” in the 1990s among feminist scholars is “the
intersection of race, class and gender.”...The central
contention of this emerging focus is that the three forms of
oppression are not separate and additive, but interactive
and multiplicative in their effects"
In patriarchal societies, men’s contributions are seen as more valuable than
those of women. Patriarchal perspectives and arrangements are widespread
and taken for granted. As a result, women’s viewpoints tend to be silenced or
marginalized to the point of being discredited or considered invalid.
Sanday’s study of the Indonesian Minangkabau (2004) revealed that in
societies some consider to be matriarchies (where women comprise the
dominant group), women and men tend to work cooperatively rather than
competitively regardless of whether a job is considered feminine by U.S.
standards.
Scholars tend to work on their respective
theories and assumptions based on their own
ideas, values, and beliefs. Those who come
from the same culture will have similar ideas,
but since there are also those who come from
a different culture, there will be some who will
contest their ideologies.
Our preconceptions guide how we perceive
and interpret information. We construe the
world through belief-tinted glasses.
A society’s widely held
ideas and values, including
assumptions and cultural
ideologies.
Culturally provided mental
instructions for how to act in
various situations.
We are exposed to various stimuli and influences
and these tends to provide "instructions" on
how we should act in various situations.
It refers to the fixed part of the social landscape that we are born into.
Values, beliefs, cultural patterns and institutions like government, religion
and education are already established. It guides on how we interact with
each other depending on our status and roles.
Status defines us and dictates others how to treat us. A status can be
ascribed or achieved, those who have ascribed statuses (social position a
person receives at birth) can influence our achieved statuses.
The structure of society dictates what is expected from our statuses and
associated roles. We present ourselves ways according to the setting and
expectations of our statuses and roles.
While behavior is guided by statuses and roles, people still actively shape
reality through their social interactions. These interactions may conform to
the expectations of social structure or they may contest those
expectations.
Social identity can transcend, or at least incorporate, people’s idiosyncratic
sense of who they are and what they are like.
People’s identities go beyond their personal talents and attitudes to
encompass their membership in groups of various kinds—family, ethnicity,
career, lifestyle, sexual orientation, and religion serving as prime examples.
People experience role conflict when they find themselves pulled in various
directions as they try to respond to the many statuses they hold.
We can also experience role strain or a tension among the roles connected
to a single status.
We have these different identities, roles, and statuses given a certain
context and sometimes they conflict with each other.
It socializes children, provides practical and emotional support for its
members, regulates sexual reproduction, and provides its members with a
social identity.
The social identity it gives to its children does affect their life chances, but
it also reinforces a society’s system of stratification. Although the
functional perspective assumes the family provides its members emotional
comfort and support, many families do just the opposite and are far from
the harmonious, happy groups
Latent functions include child care, the establishment of peer relationships,
and lowering unemployment by keeping high school students out of the
full-time labor force.
Education promotes social inequality through the use of tracking and
standardized testing and the impact of its “hidden curriculum.” Schools
differ widely in their funding and learning conditions, and this type of
inequality leads to learning disparities that reinforce social inequality.
It gives meaning and purpose to life, reinforces social unity and stability,
serves as an agent of social control, promotes psychological and physical
well-being, and may motivate people to work for positive social change.
Religion may help keep poor people happy with their lot in life, promote
traditional views about gender roles, and engender intolerance toward
people whose religious faith differs from one’s own.
There are two perspectives when it comes to government in society:
Political power in democracies is dispersed among several veto groups
that compete equally for resources and influence.
Power is instead concentrated in the hands of a few wealthy individuals
and organizations who exert inordinate influence on the government and
can shape its decisions to benefit their own interests.
If the culture we learn influences our beliefs and behaviors, then culture is a
key concept to the sociological perspective. Culture involves the symbols,
language, norms, values, and artifacts that characterize any society and that
shape the thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes of the members of the society.
Symbols are an important part of culture and help members of a society
interact. Language is another important element of culture and fundamental
to communication. A culture’s norms and values influence how people
behave. Artifacts are the final element of culture and may prove puzzling
to people outside a given culture.
• Myers, D. G. (2012). Social psychology (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Higher Education ; McGraw-Hill distributor.
• Vallacher, R. R. (2020). Social psychology : exploring the dynamics of human experience. Routledge Taylor &
Francis Group.
• Teesdale, A. (2021). Overview - Social Structure and Interaction in Everyday Life. SOC 110 9 - Intro to
Sociology. https://canvas.hawkeyecollege.edu/courses/30286/pages/overview-social-structure-andinteraction-in-everyday-life?module_item_id=1144757
• Book: Sociology (Barkan) (2022, April 6). LibreTexts.
https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology/Introduction_to_Sociology/Book%3A_Sociolog
y_(Barkan)
• Alcasey, P. et. al. (2022). Introduction to Sociology 3e. OpenStax.
https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-sociology-3e
• Chafetz, J. S. (1997). Feminist Theory and Sociology: Underutilized Contributions for Mainstream Theory.
Annual Review of Sociology, 23(1), 97–120. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.97
• Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography