1
Classical Theory
Lecture 1
Introduction to sociology
I. GOAL OF SOCIOLOGY: To gather knowledge about the functioning of human groups, society, social interaction & social life.
Why groups behave as they do
How groups influence the behavior of individuals
How the organization of the group affects ways ind's behave
Focus on social interaction--how people influence each other
Other Definitions of Sociology include:
Study of: social institutions, organized social behavior, social change, the connectiveness between us or social bonds, relationships and attachments, human communities, the organization of society, social structures, social institutions, social relationships (relationships are organized--not haphazard), the study of culture, etc.
Sociologists believe: (a) groups are important determinants of our actions
(b) that people are influenced by each other’s behavior
II. HOW DOES SOCIOLOGY DIFFER FROM PSYCHOLOGY AND
SOCIAL WORK?
A. Differs from psych in that it focuses on the group rather than individual.
Burning question for psych is why individuals behave the way they do
B. Differs in that when psych explains why individuals behave the way they do,
they look internally for the answer, in side the individual’s mind, personality,
brain or at internal psychological processes such as cognition, perception, etc.
Explain behavior by psychological wheels (personality, internal psychological
processes) inside individual that cause them to act the way they do.
Whereas sociology looks to external social forces acting upon individuals to cause

2
them to act in one way or another: social structure, social forces, culture, role,
etc.
CONTRAST PSYCHOLOGICAL WITH SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO
EXPLAINING DELINQUENCY, MATE SELECTION
Example of young 16 year old who shot six year old girl in the head.
Be wary of falling into “psychological traps”.
Example in mate selection of psychological approach in theory of
“complementary needs” versus sociological analysis of homogamy and social
forces in choice of mate selection.
Sociologists focus on society because they believe it shapes most of the
individual's behavior and on interaction because others influence our actions
and in turn we influence theirs.
The difference between sociology and social work is that sociology is a basic science attempting through empirical research to establish basic knowledge, where social work is an applied discipline taking the knowledge obtained by sociology and other disciplines and applying it to the solution of human problems.
III. SOC UTILIZES SCIENTIFIC METHOD RATHER THAN COMMON
SENSE OR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE--avoid bias, brainwashing.
NEED RELIABLE AND VERIFIABLE CONCLUSIONS
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE CANNOT BE TRUSTED, LIMITED,
UNRELIABLE.
Senses Unreliable --Optical and auditory illusions
-dreaming may seem real to us at the time
A BIRD IN THE HAND
IS WORTH TWO IN

3
IN THE BUSH
When this is read people often see not what is written but what they
have been conditioned to see. We often see what we expect to see
rather than what exists.
TAT cards & Racism--Stereotypes can kill
Personal Experience is also not always reliable:
Each person experiences society differently
(America not the same for female as a male, minority or poor.
What is true for the one may not be for the other (Rashamon).
COMMON SENSE ALSO CANNOT BE TRUSTED; OFTEN FULL
OF
CONTRADICTIONS
WE CANNOT ACCEPT STATEMENTS AS TRUE JUST BECAUSE
IT MAKES GOOD SENSE
It seems like we are standing still while traveling 60,000 mph
It appears that the sun rises in the morning, and sets at night
THEREFORE SOCIOLOGY RELIES UPON THE SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
TO REACH ITS CONCLUSIONS TO MINIMIZE THE POSSIBILITY OF
ERROR AND BIAS AND INCREASE THE PROBABILITY OF WHAT IS
PURPORTS AS TRUTHS ARE REALLY TRUE.
IV. The SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE--A WAY OF MAKING SENSE
OUT OF "WHY PEOPLE BEHAVE THE WAY THEY DO."
IT IS A QUALLITY OF MIND WE BRING TO BEAR UPON OUR
SUBJECT MATTER.
WE SEE WITH OUR MIND’S EYE.

4
IT IS LEARNING TO THINK SOCIOLOGICALLY
KNOWLEDGE GIVES US THE ABILITY TO “SEE”.
A WAY TO UNDERSTAND OUR SOCIAL WORLD
MAKES HIDDEN WORLDS VISIBLE
IT IS SOMETIMES CALLED THE SOCIOLOGICAL EYE OR THE
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATIOIN (C. Wright Mills)
Composed of 3 main elements:
(1) EXAMINE INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN LARGER SOCIAL
FORCES AND PERSONAL LIVES
Identify the connection between the experiences of the individual and the
larger society. The interconnection between the individual and society.
To understand the individual’s life and actions, we must locate them in
an historical and cultural context.
If you were born in America a century ago your life would be entirely
different in that agricultural society than it is today in an industrial
society.
Industrialization transformed our lives: changed character of work,
family life, gender relations, equality, the nature of communities, etc.
EVERY SOCIETY LAYS OUT A LIFE FOR ITS MEMBERS
AS THE LARGER SOCIAL FORCES TRANSFORM SOCIETY
OUR LIVES ALSO CHANGE
Sociologists attempt to grasp the nature of emerging social changes and
their impact on our future lives. (for example globalization)
(2) . IDENTIFY BEHAVIORS THAT ARE PROPERTIES OF THE
SOCIAL SYSTEM.
Mills makes a distinction between “personal troubles” and “public

5 isssues.
“Personal troubles” are behaviors that can be explained as an attribute of
the individual.
If only a few persons are unemployed it might be explained by some
characteristics of the person such as being lazy or lacking job skills
“Public issues” are caused by the social structure or social system.
If 15 million are unemployed it cannot be explained in individual terms
for the very structure of opportunities has broken down.
In this case unemployment is system-related and a property of the way
society is organized. (jobs going overseas, downsized and deskilled)
IT IS THE JOB OF THE SOCIOLOGIST TO IDENTIFY THOSE
BEHAVIORS THAT CAN BEST BE EXPLAIN BY THE SOCIAL
STRUCTURE.
Divorce-may result from breakdown in system of marriage not
personal inadequacy of persons who divorce.
Durkheim attempted to demonstrate the rate of suicide was a
property of the way that society was organized and not a product of
emotional disorders in society.
The emergence of delinquent gangs a consequence of larger social
forces such as inequality and disenfranchisement in society and are
thus system related. That is, they are caused by the way society is
organized and not a result of the psychological problems of gang
members or laxity in law enforcement.
*The importance of this is that you must change the way society is
organized to reduce the emergence of violent gangs.
(3) JOB OF SOCIOLOGIST TO IDENTIFY SOCIAL FORCES
INFLUENCING OUR BEHAVIOR
In a physical force field--gravity keeps us from floating to ceiling.
WE ARE IN A SOCIAL FORCE FIELD AS WELL-
Human beh influenced by social forces.
SEEK TO IDENTIFY SOCIAL FORCES

6
1. AUTHORITY-Milgram Obedience & Auth--stand and jump
2. PEER PRESSURE- Auto crash, Reiss PSC, King Beating
3. CULTURE--NORMS a powerful social force
1.Human beh norm governed--shape everything we do
2. Norms are a force--hard to go against them
3. When we don't follow them conversation breaks down.
SYMBOLS-Act on basis of meanings
Reality socially defined-child's dream, Bear spirit
VALUES-competitiveness, jealousy, etc. not human nature but
learned
4. SOCIAL STRUCTURE—REFERS TO WAYS RELATION-
SHIPS ARE ORGANIZED-- A POWERFUL FORCE
Refers to: patterns of social relationships, social organization,
the fabric of social relationships, the form and shape of
relationships.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE IS A POWEREFUL REALITY OF
ITS OWN
Bureaucracy--system as powerful as walls
Seating patterns reflect sexism, racism
ROLE--a powerful social force
A constraint on beh--Men won't wear dresses
People don't play roles--roles play people transform them.
CLASS STRUCTURE-Powerful force shapes whole life
5. SOCIALIZATION--HOW CULT BECOMES A PART OF US
How society and groups mold individuals
Society gets us to fulfill its needs
Life long process
Nature Vs Nurture--develop human nature from experience in
society-comm, love, empathy
CULTURAL DETERMINISM----ALL HUMAN BEH SHAPED BY
SOCIETY
Clothes--whether wear them or not, what kinds, what to cover
certain costumes for situations and role
what is covered is cult det-att toward body & pornography
Food: Not bio determined taste, result of cult conditioning

7
No instinct of self preservation
Die rather than eat cult tabooed food
Sex: What is normal sexual behavior? Not appropriate
Not bio determine but socially determined
What is attractive is culturally determined--body, face etc
Ageism, Racism etc built into standards of beauty
KEY: THE DISCOVERY OF SOCIETY AS THE CENTER OF SOCIAL
UNIVERSE
GOAL OF SOC TO UNDERSTAND NATURE OF SOCIETY
Most powerful social group-influences all aspects of life.
FOCUS OF ALL OF SOCIOLOGY
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF SOCIETY?
HOW DOES IT DEVELOP?
WHY IT PERSISTS
HOW IT IS ORGANIZED
HOW IT FUNCTIONS
HOW IT IS TRANSFORMED OR CHANGES
SOME DEFINE SOCIOLOGY MORE GENERALLY AS STUDY OF
GROUPS
LOOK BEYOND THE INDIVIDUAL
SEEK TO UNDERSTAND HOW GROUPS ARE STRUCTURED
HOW THEY FUNCTION, WHY THE FUNCTION AS THEY DO
HOW THEY CHANGE
OTHER SOCIOLOGISTS DEFINE IT AS THE STUDY OF SOCIAL
INTERACTION.
SEEK TO STUDY SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
HOW PEOPLE INFLUENCE EACH OTHER
HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS SHAPED BY SOCIAL INTERACTION
HOW PEOPLE RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER
STUDY FORMS OF SOCIAL RELATIONS AND GROUP
RELATIONSHIPS

8
STUDY THE INTER CONNECTEDNESS OF PEOPLE
MODELS OF SOCIETY:
SOCIOLOGISTS HAVE PROPOSED DIFFERENT MODELS OF HOW
SOCIETY IS ORGANIZED, HOW IT OPERATES, HOW IT DEVELOPS
AND CHANGES.
EVOLUTIONARY THEORY: The origin and how society changes.
SOCIETY:a system of cooperation for adaptation
FUNCTIONALISM: how organized and how it functions.
SOCIETY: a social system
CONFLICT THEORY: how it organized and how it functions.
SOCIETY: an arena where groups are in conflict and aim for domination and
control over scarce resources.
WORLD SYSTEM THEORY: HOW SOCIETIES INFLUENCE EACH
OTHER,
inter relationships of society, world order.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM: A model of social interaction.
SOCIETY: see as an aggregate of individual actions.
NATURE AND METHODS OF SOCIOLOGY
SOME SEE SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE, OTHERS AS ART FORM
AS SCIENCE JOB IS TO UNDERSTAND REALITY
ASSUME REGULARITIES IN NATURE
SEEK TO IDENT PATTERNS IN HUMAN BEHAVIOR
Try to uncover underlying patterns
TRY TO LOOK FOR THE GENERAL IN THE PARTICULAR
AS ART FORM INTERPRETIVE SOCIOLOGY
SEEK TO UNDERSTAND WORLD FROM PERSPECTIVE OF
PARTICIPANTS
CAN NEVER EXACTLY GET INSIDE HEAD-VERSTHEN
HUMAN BEHAVIOR NEVER THAT PREDICTABLE
DEPENDS ON INTERPRETATION
DEBATE ABOUT WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?
A SCIENCE, INTERPRETIVE FRAMEWORK, A CRITICAL

9
PERSPECTIVE
Other definitions of sociology:
Study of : social institutions, organized social behavior, social change, the connectiveness between us--social bonds, relationships and attachments, human communities, the organization of society (class structure, etc), social structures, the function of institutions, social relationships--relationships organized not haphazard
Study of society and social structure
Look beyond the individual to patterns
Patterns exist even though individuals differ--why? (Norms)
Seek to understand how groups are structured.