SOCI 121- SOCIOLOGY
Letter of Contents
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
I. Course Structure




Resource : Dr Kithsiri Edirisinghe, (MBBS, MSc, MD)
Duration : 45 Hours of study , 08 sessions
Method of Delivery : Lecture presentations , discussions , videos
Evaluation methodology : Debates, quizzes , role play , Vivas , MCQ and structured
written examinations
II. Syllabus
1.1 Course structure
OBJECTIVES
Sociology provides a clear picture of various social structures in the world which helps nurse to
interact more efficiently when dealing with clients from different cultures.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012

Allocated total number of hours is 45hrs

Lecturer Healthcare professional

Methods of instructions are lectures, debates and group discussions

Performances are evaluated by through quizzes, assignments and vivas during the
sessions.

Term exam papers include MCQ, structured essays and essay questions.
REFERENCES
1. David.M.N.,Sociology-Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life,
4thed, Pine Forge, 2002
2. Roger.E., The ways of Religion-An introduction to the Major Traditions, Oxford, 1999
2.2 Course outline
1. Introduction to Sociology – 02 hours
 What is Sociology
 Definitions of Sociology
 Importance of Study Sociology
 Sociological
2. Culture, Society and the Individual – 03 hours
 What is culture
 Language
 Elements of Culture
 Organization of a culture
 Norms and Values
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
3. Family



- 02 hours
Characteristics of Family
Family Patterns
Forms of Family
4. Marriage – 03 hours
 Definition of Marriage
 Forms of Marriage
5. Socialization – 04 hours
 Socialization
 Development in children
 Resocialization
6. Gender and Sexuality – 03 hours
 Sexual Differentiation
 Sex Vs Gender
 Gender roles over the Life span
 Social Inequalities between Men and Women
 Feminist Theories
7. Social Interaction and Everyday life – 03 hours
 Civil Inattention
 Non Verbal Communication
 Face and culture
 Social rules and Talk
 Encounters
 Impression management
8. Stratification and Class Structure 03 hours
 Social Stratification
 Basic Systems of Stratification
 Theories of Stratification
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
9. Ethnicity and Race – 03 hours
 Ethnicity
 Racism
 Prejudice and Discrimination
 Stereotypes and Scapegoats
10. Deviance and Crime - 03 hours
 Norms, Conformity
 Social Control
 Deviance
 Crimes
11. Education - 03 hours
 Development of Literacy and Schooling
 Origins of Development of Education System
 Functions of Education
 Consequences of Education
12. Religion - 03 hours
 What is Religion
 Characteristics of Religion
 Major Religions of the World
13. Population – 03 hours
 Statistical measures
 Industrial revolution
 The third world
 Population Growth, Environment and Poverty
1. Introduction to Sociology
1.1 What is Society ?
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent
relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to
the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Human societies are
characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a
distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
relationships among its constituent members. In the social sciences, a larger society often
evinces stratification and/or dominance patterns in subgroups.
Insofar as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would not
otherwise be possible on an individual basis; both individual and social (common) benefits can
thus be distinguished, or in many cases found to overlap.
A society can also consist of like-minded people governed by their own norms and values within
a dominant, larger society. This is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term used
extensively within criminology.
More broadly, a society may be described as an economic, social, or industrial infrastructure,
made up of a varied collection of individuals. Members of a society may be from different
ethnic groups. A society can be a particular ethnic group, such as the Saxons; a nation state,
such as Bhutan; or a broader cultural group, such as a Western society. The word society may
also refer to an organized voluntary association of people for religious, benevolent, cultural,
scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes. A "society" may even, though more by means
of metaphor, refer to a social organism such as an ant colony or any cooperative aggregate such
as, for example, in some formulations of artificial intelligence.
Society is made up of individuals who have agreed to work together for mutual benefit. It can
be a very broad term, as we can make generalizations about what the whole of Western society
believes, or it can be a very narrow definition, describing only a small group of people within a
given community. But no matter the size, and no matter the link that binds a society together,
be it religious, geographic, professional or economic, society is shaped by the relationships
between individuals.
There has been much debate over what makes a society successful. Philosopher Thomas
Hobbes believed that without society, human life would be "nasty, brutish and short." Man's
natural state, he argued, would be to preserve only oneself -- a man without society would
steal another family's food, seduce other men's wives and kill anyone who got in his way. Of
course, the same man would be in constant danger of those things happening to him, his wife
and his children. What people needed, therefore, was a society, which would provide
protection by subjecting everyone to a set of rules. But the number of governments, tribes and
communities today demonstrate that there's no single way to form or govern a society.
Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau dubbed the set of rules that a society lives by "the social
contract." In other words, people must play a part in agreeing to certain laws and in choosing a
given leader. If people lose that right, then society won't function as well. To return to Coach
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
Lombardi's area of expertise, a society without an agreed-upon code of conduct would be like
football without rules or a referee. People will cooperate and commit to a society only as long
as they can choose the person who mediates and voice an opinion on the rules.
It's interesting, then, to observe the effects of the Internet on society. On the Internet, there's
no referee, and the rules that govern our interpersonal contact don't seem to hold much sway.
With the anonymity provided by a screen name, people feel like they can say things they
wouldn't otherwise say, things that may even be hurtful or dangerous. And because you can do
everything from order a pizza online to pay your electric bill, some academics worry that the
Internet will erode our real societies, as people opt out of participating in real life in favor of
participating in cyberspace. On the other hand, some would argue that the Internet has only
made our societies larger -- a person in Delaware, after all, can now converse easily with a
person in China. It will be interesting to see how technology shapes society in the future.
1.2 What is Sociology?
Sociology enables us to understand the structure and dynamics of society, and their intricate
connections to patterns of human behavior and individual life changes. It examines the ways in
which the forms of social structure -- groups, organizations, communities, social categories
(such as class, sex, age, or race), and various social institutions (such as kinship, economic,
political, or religious) affect human attitudes, actions, and opportunities.
The discipline also explores how both individuals and collectivities construct, maintain, and
alter social organization in various ways. Sociology asks about the sources and consequences of
change in social arrangements and institutions, and about the satisfactions and difficulties of
planning, accomplishing, and adapting to such change. Areas studied in examining social
dynamics include: culture, values, socialization, cooperation, conflict, power, exchange,
inequality, deviance, social control, violence, order and social change.
The term "society" came from the Latin word societas, which in turn was derived from the
noun socius ("comrade, friend, ally"; adjectival form socialis) used to describe a bond or
interaction among parties that are friendly, or at least civil. Without an article, the term can
refer to the entirety of humanity (also: "society in general", "society at large", etc.), although
those who are unfriendly or uncivil to the remainder of society in this sense may be deemed to
be "antisocial". Adam Smith wrote that a society "may subsist among different men, as among
different merchants, from a sense of its utility without any mutual love or affection, if only they
refrain from doing injury to each other."[1]
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
Used in the sense of an association, a society is a body of individuals outlined by the bounds of
functional interdependence, possibly comprising characteristics such as national or cultural
identity, social solidarity, language, or hierarchical organization.
Societies are social groups that differ according to subsistence strategies, the ways that humans
use technology to provide needs for themselves. Although humans have established many
types of societies throughout history, anthropologists tend to classify different societies
according to the degree to which different groups within a society have unequal access to
advantages such as resources, prestige, or power. Virtually all societies have developed some
degree of inequality among their people through the process of social stratification, the division
of members of a society into levels with unequal wealth, prestige, or power. Sociologists place
societies in three broad categories: pre-industrial, industrial, and postindustrial.
ACTIVITY 01
Describe the different type of social groups .
1.3 Definitions of Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes
synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation[2] and critical analysis[3] to
develop a body of knowledge about human social activity. For many sociologists the goal is to
conduct research which may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, whilst others focus
primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes. Subject matter ranges
from the micro level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and the
social structure.[4]
Sociology is a very broad discipline. Its traditional focuses have included social stratification,
social class, social mobility, religion, secularisation, law, and deviance. As all spheres of human
activity are sculpted by social structure and individual agency, sociology has gradually expanded
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
its focus to further subjects, such as health, medical, military and penal institutions, the
Internet, and even the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge.
The range of social scientific methods has also broadly expanded. Social researchers draw upon
a variety of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The linguistic and cultural turns of the midtwentieth century led to increasingly interpretative, hermeneutic, and philosophic approaches
to the analysis of society. Conversely, recent decades have seen the rise of new analytically,
mathematically and computationally rigorous techniques, such as agent-based modelling and
social network analysis.[5][6] Sociology should not be confused with various general social
studies courses which bear little relation to sociological theory or social science research
methodology
'Sociology' which had once been treated as social philosophy, or the philosophy of the history,
emerged as an independent social science in 19th century. Auguste Comte, a Frenchman, is
traditionally considered to be the father of sociology. Comte is accredited with the coining of
the term sociology (in 1839). "Sociology" is composed of two words : socius, meaning
companion or associate; and 'logos', meaning science or study. The etymological meaning of
"sociology" is thus the science of society. John Stuart Mill, another social thinker and
philosopher of the 19th century, proposed the word ethology for this new science. Herbert
Spencer developed his systematic study of society and adopted the word "sociology" in his
works. With the contributions of Spencer and others it (sociology) became the permanent
name
of
the
new
science.
The question 'what is sociology' is indeed , a question pertaining to the definition of sociology.
No student can rightfully be expected to enter on a field of study which is totally undefined or
unbounded. At the same time, it is not an easy task to set some fixed limits to a field of study. It
is true in the case of sociology. Hence it is difficult to give a brief and a comprehensive
definition
of
sociology.
1.4 Importance of Studying Sociology
Of the various social sciences, sociology seems to be the youngest. It is gradually developing.
Still it has remarkable progress. Its uses are recognized widely today. In modern times, there is
a growing realization of the importance of the scientific study of social phenomena and the
means of promoting what Prof. Giddings calls human adequacy (human welfare).
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
The study of sociology has a great value especially in modern complex society. Some of the uses
of sociology are as follows.
1. Sociology studies society in a scientific way. Before the emergence of sociology, there was no
systematic and scientific attempt to study human society with all its complexities. Sociology has
made it possible to study society in a scientific manner. This scientific knowledge about human
society is needed in order to achieve progress in various fields.
2. Sociology throws more light on the social nature of man. Sociology evolves deep into the
social nature of man. It tells us why man is a social animal, why he lives in groups, communities
and societies. It examines the relationship between individual and society, the impact of society
on man and other matters.
3. Sociology improves our understanding of society and increases the power of social action,
capabilities, talents and limitations. It enables him to adjust himself to the environment.
Knowledge of society, social groups, social institutions, associations, their functions etc. helps
us to lead an effective social life.
4. The study of sociology helps us to know not only our society and man but also others, their
motives, aspirations, status, occupations, traditions, customs, institutions, cultures etc. In a
huge industrialized society, our experience is comparatively limited. We can hardly have a
comprehensive knowledge of our society and rarely have an idea regarding other societies. But
we must have some insight into an appreciation of the motives by which others live and the
conditions under which they exist. Such an insight we derive from the study of sociology.
5. The contribution of sociology is not less significant in enriching culture. Sociology has given
training to us to have rational approach to questions concerning ourselves, our religion,
customs, mores, institutions, values, ideologies etc. It has made us to become more objective,
rational, critical and dispassionate. The study of societies has made people to become more
broad-minded. It has impressed upon its students to overcome there prejudices,misconceptions, egoistic ambitions, and class and religious, hatreds. It has made our life richer,
fuller and meaningful.
6. Another aspect of the practical side of sociology is the study of great social institutions and
the relation's of individuals of each one of them. The home and family, the school and
education, the state and government, industry and work, religion and morality, marriage and
family, law and legislation, property and government etc. are some of the main institutions,
through which our society functions. More than that, they condition our life in countless ways.
Knowledge of sociology may help to strengthen them to serve man better.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
7. Sociology is useful as a teaching subject too. Sociology is a profession in which technical
competence brings its own rewards. Sociologists, especially those trained in research
procedures, are in increasing demand in business, Government, industry, city planning, race
relations, social work, social welfare, supervision, advertising, communications, administration,
and many other areas of community life. A few years ago, sociologists could only teach
sociology in schools and colleges. But sociology has now become practical enough to be
practiced outside of academic halls, areas of application of sociology in schools and colleges.
Careers apart from teaching are now possible in sociology, which are coming more
international levels.
8. The need for the study of sociology is greater especially in underdeveloped countries.
Sociologists have now drawn the attention of economists regarding the social factors that have
contributed to the economic backwardness of a few countries. Economists have now realized
the importance of sociological knowledge in analyzing the economic affairs of country.
9. The study of society is of paramount importance in solving social problems. The present
world is best with several social problems of great magnitude like poverty, beggary,
unemployment, prostitution, over population, family disorganization, community
disorganization, racial problems, crime, juvenile delinquency, gambling alcoholism, youth
unrest, untouchability etc. A careful analysis of these problems is necessary in order to solve
them. Sociology provides such an analysis.
10. Sociological knowledge is necessary for understanding and planning of society. Social
planning has been made easier by sociology. Sociology is often considered a vehicle of social
reform and social reorganization. It plays an important role in the reconstruction of society.
11. Study of society has helped several governments to promote the welfare of the tribal
people. Not only the civilized-societies, but even the tribal societies are faced with several
socio-economic and anthropologists regarding tribal societies and problems have helped many
governments in undertaking various social welfare measures to promote the welfare of the
tribal people. Efforts are now being made to treat the tribals on par with the rest of the civilized
people.
12. Sociology has drawn our attention to the intrinsic worth and dignity of man. Sociology has
been greatly responsible in changing our attitudes towards fellow human beings. It has helped
people to become catholic in outlook and broad-minded in spirit. It has made people to
become too lenient and patient towards others. It has minimized the mental distance and
reduced the gap between different peoples and communities.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
13. Sociology is of great practical help in the sense; it keeps us up-to date on modern social
situations and developments. Sociology makes us to become more alert towards the changes
and developments that take place around us. As a result, we come to know about our changed
roles and expectations and responsibilities.
Activity 01 : Discuss the relation ship between Health and society
2. Culture, Society and the Individual
2.1 What is culture
The word culture has many different meanings. For some it refers to an appreciation of good
literature, music, art, and food. For a biologist, it is likely to be a colony of bacteria or other
microorganisms growing in a nutrient medium in a laboratory Petri dish. However, for
anthropologists and other behavioral scientists, culture is the full range of learned human
behavior patterns. The term was first used in this way by the pioneer English Anthropologist
Edward B. Tylor in his book, Primitive Culture, published in 1871. Tylor said that culture is
"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other
capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." Of course, it is not limited to
men. Women possess and create it as well. Since Tylor's time, the concept of culture has
become the central focus of anthropology.
Culture is a powerful human tool for survival, but it is a fragile phenomenon. It is constantly
changing and easily lost because it exists only in our minds. Our written languages,
governments, buildings, and other man-made things are merely the products of culture. They
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
are not culture in themselves. For this reason, archaeologists can not dig up culture directly in
their excavations. The broken pots and other artifacts of ancient people that they uncover are
only material remains that reflect cultural patterns--they are things that were made and used
through cultural knowledge and skills.
A.
Layers of Culture
There are very likely three layers or levels of culture that are part of your learned behavior
patterns and perceptions. Most obviously is the body of cultural traditions that distinguish your
specific society. When people speak of Italian, Samoan, or Japanese culture, they are referring
to the shared language, traditions, and beliefs that set each of these peoples apart from
others. In most cases, those who share your culture do so because they acquired it as they
were raised by parents and other family members who
have it.
The second layer of culture that may be part of your
identity is a subculture In complex, diverse societies in
which people have come from many different parts of the
world, they often retain much of their original cultural
traditions. As a result, they are likely to be part of an
identifiable subculture in their new society. The shared
cultural traits of subcultures set them apart from the rest of their society. Examples of easily
identifiable subcultures in the United States include ethnic groups such as Vietnamese
Americans, African Americans, and Mexican Americans. Members of each of these subcultures
share a common identity, food tradition, dialect or language, and other cultural traits that come
from their common ancestral background and experience. As the cultural differences between
members of a subculture and the dominant national culture blur and eventually disappear, the
subculture ceases to exist except as a group of people who claim a common ancestry. That is
generally the case with German Americans and Irish Americans in the United States today.
Most of them identify themselves as Americans first. They also see themselves as being part of
the cultural mainstream of the nation.
These Cuban American
women in Miami, Florida
have a shared subculture
identity that is reinforced
through their language,
food, and other traditions
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
The third layer of culture consists of cultural universals. These are learned behavior patterns
that are shared by all of humanity collectively. No matter where people live in the world, they
share these universal traits. Examples of such "human cultural" traits include:
1. communicating with a verbal language consisting of a limited set of
sounds and grammatical rules for constructing sentences
2. using age and gender to classify people (e.g., teenager, senior citizen,
woman, man)
3. classifying people based on marriage and descent relationships and
having
kinship
terms
to
refer
to
them (e.g., wife, mother, uncle, cousin)
4. raising children in some sort of family setting
5. having a sexual division of labor (e.g., men's work versus women's
work)
6. having a concept of privacy
7. having rules to regulate sexual behavior
8. distinguishing between good and bad behavior
9. having some sort of body ornamentation
10. making jokes and playing games
11. having art
12. having some sort of leadership roles for the implementation of
community decisions
While all cultures have these and possibly many other universal traits, different cultures have
developed their own specific ways of carrying out or expressing them. For instance, people in
deaf subcultures frequently use their hands to communicate with sign language instead of
verbal language. However, sign languages have grammatical rules just as verbal ones do.
b. Culture and Society
Culture and society is not the same thing. While cultures are complexes of learned behavior
patterns and perceptions, societies are groups of interacting organisms. People are not the
only animals that have societies. Schools of fish, flocks of birds, and hives of bees are societies.
In the case of humans, however, societies are groups of people who directly or indirectly
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
interact with each other. People in human societies also generally perceive that their society is
distinct from other societies in terms of shared traditions and expectations.
While human societies and cultures are not the same thing, they are inextricably connected
because culture is created and transmitted to others in a society. Cultures are not the product
of lone individuals. They are the continuously evolving products of people interacting with each
other. Cultural patterns such as language and politics make no sense except in terms of the
interaction of people. If you were the only human on earth, there would be no need for
language or government.
c. Is Culture Limited to Humans?
There is a difference of opinion in the
Non-human
culture?
behavioral sciences about whether or not
This orangutan mother is
we are the only animal that creates and
using a specially prepared
uses culture. The answer to this question
stick to "fish out" food from
depends on how narrow culture is defined.
a crevice. She learned this
If it is used broadly to refer to a complex of
skill and is now teaching it
learned behavior patterns, then it is clear
to her child who is hanging
that we are not alone in creating and using
on her shoulder and intently
culture. Many other animal species teach
watching.
their young what they themselves learned
in order to survive. This is especially true of the chimpanzees and other relatively intelligent
apes and monkeys. Wild chimpanzee mothers typically teach their children about several
hundred food and medicinal plants. Their children also have to learn about the dominance
hierarchy and the social rules within their communities. As males become teenagers, they
acquire hunting skills from adults. Females have to learn how to nurse and care for their
babies. Chimpanzees even have to learn such basic skills as how to perform sexual intercourse.
This knowledge is not hardwired into their brains at birth. They are all learned patterns of
behavior just as they are for humans.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
d. Elements of Culture
There are 07 elements of culture ; Language , norms , values , beliefs and ideologies , Social
Collectives, cultural integration Statuses and Roles. They are described as follows:
1. Language.
Language is a set of symbols used to assign and communicate meaning. It enables us to name
or label the things in our world so we can think and communicate about them.
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex
systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex
communication. The scientific study of language in any of its senses is called linguistics.
The approximately 3000–6000 languages that are spoken by humans today are the most
salient examples, but natural languages can also be based on visual rather than auditory
stimuli, for example in sign languages and written language. Codes and other kinds of
artificially constructed communication systems such as those used for computer programming
can also be called languages. A language in this sense is a system of signs for encoding and
decoding information. The English word derives ultimately from Latin lingua, "language,
tongue", via Old French. This metaphoric relation between language and the tongue exists in
many languages and testifies to the historical prominence of spoken languages.[1] When used
as a general concept, "language" refers to the cognitive faculty that enables humans to learn
and use systems of complex communication.
The human language faculty is thought to be fundamentally different from and of much higher
complexity than those of other species. Human language is highly complex in that it is based
on a set of rules relating symbols to their meanings, thereby forming an infinite number of
possible innovative utterances from a finite number of elements. Language is thought to have
originated when early hominids first started cooperating, adapting earlier systems of
communication based on expressive signs to include a theory of other minds and shared
intentionality. This development is thought to have coincided with an increase in brain volume.
Language is processed in many different locations in the human brain, but especially in Broca’s
and Wernicke’s areas. Humans acquire language through social interaction in early childhood,
and children generally speak fluently when they are around three years old. The use of
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
language has become deeply entrenched in human culture and, apart from being used to
communicate and share information, it also has social and cultural uses, such as signifying
group identity, social stratification and for social grooming and entertainment. The word
"language" can also be used to describe the set of rules that makes this possible, or the set of
utterances that can be produced from those rules.
All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate a sign with a particular meaning. Spoken
and signed languages contain a phonological system that governs how sounds or visual symbols
are used to form sequences known as words or morphemes, and a syntactic system that
governs how words and morphemes are used to form phrases and utterances. Written
languages use visual symbols to represent the sounds of the spoken languages, but they still
require syntactic rules that govern the production of meaning from sequences of words.
Languages evolve and diversify over time, and the history of their evolution can be
reconstructed by comparing modern languages to determine which traits their ancestral
languages must have had for the later stages to have occurred. A group of languages that
descend from a common ancestor is known as a language family. The languages that are most
spoken in the world today belong to the Indo-European family, which includes languages such
as English, Spanish, Russian and Hindi; the Sino-Tibetan languages, which include Mandarin
Chinese, Cantonese and many others; Semitic languages, which include Arabic, Amharic and
Hebrew; and the Bantu languages, which include Swahili, Zulu, Shona and hundreds of other
languages spoken throughout Africa.
2. Norms.
Norms as humanly created rules for behavior. The production of norms.The need for orderly,
stable, predictable interactions . The role of power in the production of norms..The reification
of norms. Renegotiating and changing norms.
Social norms are the accepted behaviors within a society or group. This sociological and social
psychological term has been defined as "the rules that a group uses for appropriate and
inappropriate values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. These rules may be explicit or implicit.
They have also been described as the "customary rules of behavior that coordinate our
interactions with others."[1]
Norms vary and evolve not only through time but also vary from between social classes and
social groups. What is deemed to be acceptable dress, speech or behavior in one social group
may not be accepted in another. Essentially, social norms are rules that define the behaviour
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
that is expected, required, or acceptable in particular circumstances. They are learned through
social interaction.
Deference to social norms maintains one's acceptance and popularity within a particular group.
Social norms can be enforced formally (e.g., through sanctions) or informally (e.g., through
body language and non-verbal communication cues). By ignoring social norms, one risks
becoming unacceptable, unpopular or even an outcast.
As social beings, individuals learn when and where it is appropriate to say certain things, to use
certain words, to discuss certain topics or wear certain clothes, and when it is not. Thus,
knowledge about cultural norms is important for impression management,[2] which is an
individual's regulation of their nonverbal behaviour. One also comes to know through
experience what types of people he/she can and cannot discuss certain topics with or wear
certain types of dress around. Typically, this knowledge is derived through experience.
Types of norms.
a. Folkways.
Sociologists speak of at least four types of norms: folkways, mores, taboos, and laws. Folkways,
sometimes known as “conventions” or “customs,” are standards of behavior that are socially
approved but not morally significant. For example, belching loudly after eating dinner at
someone else's home breaks an American folkway
Folkways, in sociology, are any informal mores characterized by being followed through
imitation and mild social pressure but not strictly enforced or put into law. The term folkways,
introduced by American sociologist William Graham Sumner in 1907, sees some use, especially
in more modern sociology.[1] A specific practice within a wider system of mores is known as a
custom, so that this term is sometimes used as the approximate singular of "mores."
b. Mores.
Mores are norms of morality. Breaking mores, like attending church in the nude, will offend
most people of a culture. Mores, in sociology, are any given society's particular norms, virtues,
or values. The word mores (English pronunciation: /ˈmɔəreɪz/ or /ˈmɔəriːz/, from the Latin
plural mōrēs; singular mōs) is a plurale tantum term borrowed from Latin, which has been used
in the English language since the 1890s.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
c. Taboos.
A taboo is a strong social prohibition (or ban) relating to any area of human activity or social
custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or
scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by
society. The term comes from the Tongan word tabu, meaning set apart or forbidden, and
appears in many Polynesian cultures. In those cultures, a tabu (or tapu or kapu) Often has
specific religious associations. American author Herman Melville, in his first novel "Typee"
describes both the origin and use of the word in Polynesian culture. "The word itself (taboo) is
used in more than one signification. It is sometimes used by a parent to a child, when in the
exercise of parental authority forbids the child to perform a particular action. Anything opposed
to the ordinary customs of the islands, although not expressly prohibited is said to be "taboo"."
When an activity or custom is taboo, it is forbidden and interdictions are implemented
concerning it, such as the ground set apart as a sanctuary for criminals. Some taboo activities or
customs are prohibited under law and transgressions may lead to severe penalties. On the
other hand taboos result in embarrassment, shame, and rudeness. Although critics and/or
dissenters may oppose taboos, they are put into place to avoid disrespect to any given
authority, be it legal, moral and/or religious.
d. Rituals.
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a
religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are
arbitrarily chosen by the performers.
The field of ritual studies has seen a number of conflicting definitions of the term. One given by
Kyriakidis (2007) is that Ritual is an outsider's or "etic" category for a set activity (or set of
actions) which to the outsider seems irrational, non-contiguous, or illogical. The term can be
used also by the insider or "emic" performer as an acknowledgement that this activity can be
seen as such by the uninitiated onlooker.
A ritual may be performed on specific occasions, or at the discretion of individuals or
communities. It may be performed by a single individual, by a group, or by the entire
community; in arbitrary places, or in places especially reserved for it; either in public, in private,
or before specific people. A ritual may be restricted to a certain subset of the community, and
may enable or underscore the passage between religious or social states.
The purposes of rituals are varied; with religious obligations or ideals, satisfaction of spiritual or
emotional needs of the practitioners, strengthening of social bonds, social and moral education,
demonstration of respect or submission, stating one's affiliation, obtaining social acceptance or
approval for some event—or, sometimes, just for the pleasure of the ritual itself.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
Rituals of various kinds are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or present. They
include not only the various worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults, but
also the rites of passage of certain societies, atonement and purification rites, oaths of
allegiance, dedication ceremonies, coronations and presidential inaugurations, marriages and
funerals, school "rush" traditions and graduations, club meetings, sports events, Halloween
parties, veterans parades, Christmas shopping and more. Many activities that are ostensibly
performed for concrete purposes, such as jury trials, execution of criminals, and scientific
symposia, are loaded with purely symbolic actions prescribed by regulations or tradition, and
thus partly ritualistic in nature. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying hello may be
termed rituals.
3.
Values.
Values are anything members of a culture aspire to or hold in high esteem. Values are things to
be achieved, things considered of great worth or value. Values are human creations. They are
social products.Values can and do become reified.Values can be renegotiated and changed.
While people and groups may disagree as to which are most important, Americans generally
value the following.











Democracy, liberty, freedom, independence, autonomy, and individual rights.
Capitalism, competition, hard work, self-discipline, and success.
Wealth, prosperity, materialism, and consumerism.
Equity, fairness, and justice.
Equality of opportunity.
Love, compassion, humanitarianism, charity, service, and respect for others.
Tolerance, forgiveness, and acceptance.
Faith, religion, family, conformity, and tradition.
Nationalism, patriotism, civic responsibility, and loyalty.
Health, happiness, and life.
Education, knowledge, science, technology, and innovation.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
Complimentary and conflicting values.



A groups values tend to compliment and support one another. They tend to be in
agreement and make sense when considered together. A careful look at the values
above reveals “sets” of values that seem to go together.
However, it is also possible for values to contradict and conflict with each other,
especially in complex modern industrial societies. For example, competition and
success can be seen as contradictory to humanitarianism, compassion, service and selfsacrafice; while equity and justice contradict forgiveness and conformity and tradition
contradict tolerance and acceptance.
In fact, many social and political problems can be seen as conflicts between groups
emphasizing different values.
Activity 02 Find the relationship between norms and values.
4. Beliefs and ideologies.
a. Beliefs
Beliefs are the things members of a culture hold to be true. They are the "facts" accepted by all
or most members. Beliefs are not limited to religious statements, but include all the things a
people know and accept as true, including common sense everyday knowledge.
Like all other cultural elements, beliefs are humanly created and produced. They are collective
social agreements produced during interaction and reified over time. What is "true" or "factual"
for a given people is what they collectively agree to be true at that point in time.
Beliefs can and do change, especially in modern industrial societies. Today we laugh at things
our grandparents used to believe and chances are that our grandchildren will laugh at many of
our beliefs as well.This suggests that their is no absolute knowledge or absolute truth. All
knowledge and truth is relative.
b. Ideologies
Ideologies are integrated and connected systems of beliefs. Sets of beliefs and assumptions
connected by a common theme or focus. They are often are associated with specific social
institutions or systems and serve to legitimize those systems.Some prominent American
ideologies.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012





Capitalism.
Christianity (Protestantism).
Individualism
Sexism.
Racism.
Ideologies are, themselves, often related and connected to each other in complex ideological
systems, such that one ideology "makes sense" when considered with another. They also often
serve to legitimize each other. Religious ideologies often encompass or subsume many of a
culture's ideologies, giving them added legitimacy.
However, it is also possible for a culture to hold ideologies that are conflicting and
contradictory
5. Social Collectives.
Social collectives such as groups, organizations, communities, institutions, classes, and societies
are also collectively produced symbolic social constructions. Social collectives are symbolic
entities. They are defined into existence when people define themselves as a group or are
defined as a group by others. They can and do become reified over time, such that they are
seen and treated as real objective entities. However, they remain fundamentally symbolic
entities and as such can be renegotiated and redefined.
The symbolic nature of social collectives means that they are typically justified and maintained
by ideological systems and ritualistic behavior.Although symbolic entities, social collectives
have a real impact on our lives.



6.
Collectives as contexts for interaction.
Collectives and local cultures.
Collectives, status, roles, identity, and the self.
Cultural Integration. & Statuses
Cultural integration refers to how interconnected, complimentary, and mutually supportive
the various elements of culture are:

Diversity, complexity, and integration.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012





Variation within modern mass cultures.
Diversity in historical and cultural traditions.
Subcultures.
Counter-cultures.
Local cultures.
A.Status, although related, is not a measure of a persons wealth, power, and prestige. To speak of
"high" or "low" status is somewhat misleading. A status is a slot or position within a group or
society. They tell us who people are and how they "fit" into the group. Status and group
membership. Statuses as collective social agreements that become reified over time, but
which can and do change.Society as a network of inter-related statuses. The multiplicity of
statuses filled by individuals in modern societies.Ascribed and achieved statuses.Master
statuses--age, sex, race, class.Status, prestige, wealth, and power.Status inconsistency.
7.
Roles
Roles are norms specifying the rights and responsibilities associated with a particular status.
The term role is often used to mean both a position in society and role expectations associated
with it.
Roles define what a person in a given status can and should do, as well as what they can and
should expect from others. Roles provide a degree of stability and predictability, telling how we
should respond to others and giving us an idea of how others should respond to us.
Roles are negotiated and produced during interaction, and often become reified over time.
However, roles can be renegotiated and changed. Role set, role strain, role conflict, and role
transition.Roles,
identity,
and
the
self.
Activity 03 :discuss the different views on Organization of a culture
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
3. Family
3.1 The introduction
The family unit in terms of applied sociology is a micro level society, or the smallest structure of
society within our vast world of societies. It consists of more than one person that forms the
most intimate and personal of groups. Though it may be a very small group of very like-minded
people there are still guidelines in place that govern the functionality of the family and create
behaviors within the group which makes the tiny society distinguishable from others.
Applied sociology is used to find and address the problems within a society by using various
methods that are based on a theory and then tested using both evidence that can be measured
and evidence that is more sensory. Looking at your family as a small society you can better
understand how these methods can be used to analyze and correct your own problems.
Within the family unit there are still social roles that the family members take on and that are
aware to everyone in the group. For example, traditionally the father is the head of the family
with the mother a close second, a partner. However, the unique family structures that are
becoming prevalent in America are making for interesting questions as to the roles within the
family and what affects it will lead to in society outside the family. It is not uncommon to now
find single parent led families, grandparents raising grandchildren, step families that combine
two family units and other combinations.
Still the fact remains that there is a power hierarchy within the family society and each member
has their societal roles. Using applied sociology within the family unit is very similar to
practicing it at the micro level. The micro level focuses on the smallest societies which includes
the family. Like any applied sociologist in order to use the science within your society you must
first understand that society.
It should be easy as a member of your family to recognize the key qualities that form the family
society. There four areas in which a micro society like a family unit creates the ideas that govern
it.


Socialization : Socialization is the creation of shared beliefs and ideals that led to the
norms of a micro society. Socialization is the indicator as to how one should interact
within a society. An example of socialization would be sharing every meal at the table
instead of in front of the television because that is family discussion time.
Segregation on the other hand is the separation of parts of a society that are found to
function better when separated from the whole. Even within the family there are some
activities that people are far more comfortable performing in their own space on their
own that could otherwise lead to conflict. It’s like each family member having their own
room.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012


Ritual is also involved in micro level societies. In this circumstance ritual refers to
actions that are repeated, typical interactions for the society in a certain situation. They
are the action that come second nature within the setting and expected. Tucking a child
before bed can be a ritual within a family unit.
Sanctioning is the fourth social control that makes up a micro society. This is the one on
one interaction of reading another person’s actions and expressions to determine the
appropriate behavior within the society. By interpreting these gestures and expressions
members of the society react to different situations as they understand they should in
that moment. It’s the standard I’ll count to three routine that parents use when a child
is about to be reprimanded.
By understanding how these elements create the family unit you can better understand the
interactions between the family members and the ideas and actions that link you together as a
miniature society. As a society the family has overall institutions and policies as well as smaller
components that may not affect every member in the same way.
If the larger policies that affect the group as a whole aren’t functioning then the family unit will
experience stress. When considering the policies that govern the family every member must be
taken into consideration since each individual forms the whole. However, the social roles of
each member must also be taken into consideration. The head of the family is the one who
keeps order by setting rules and enforcing them.
In the case of problematic children it could be a refusal to recognize their social role in the
family. By helping them understand their social role and explaining how it factors into the
society children can better understand the need for such regulation. This is especially true if
you actively involve the child and really incorporate their needs and thoughts into the policies
that are set.
By using the interview method of applied sociology you can discover what factors are important
to each family member, what isn’t working or isn’t fair within the current policies, and get an
idea as to the changes that can correct problems. Interviewing is a direct way to gain
information that can be both measured or a sensory feeling as well as give you the opportunity
to observe a family member which is another applied sociology method for gaining valuable
information.
As we take in mass media and other media such as books and newspapers it is a form of
communication. We learn from and are influenced by the media we consume thus affecting
how we communicate with others as well. Think about someone who watches nothing but
MTV, their vernacular is going to be decidedly more youthful and likely laced with the newest
catch phrases and slang.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
3.2 Characteristics of Family
The characteristics of a family are as follows:
i.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
Universality: There is no human society in which some form of the family does not
appear. Malinowski writes the typical family a group consisting of mother, father and
their progeny is found in all communities ,savage, barbarians and civilized. The
irresistible sex need, the urge for reproduction and the common economic needs have
contributed to this universality.
Emotional basis: The family is grounded in emotions and sentiments. It is based on our
impulses of mating, procreation, maternal devotion, fraternal love and parental care. It
is built upon sentiments of love, affection, sympathy, cooperation and friendship.
Limited size: The family is smaller in size. As a primary group its size is necessarily
limited. It is a smallest social unit.
Formative influence: The family welds an environment which surrounds trains and
educates the child. It shapes the personality and moulds the character of its members. It
emotionally conditions the child.
Nuclear position in the social structure: The family is the nucleus of all other social
organizations. The whole social structure is built of family units.
Responsibility of the members: The members of the family has certain responsibilities,
duties and obligations. Maclver points out that in times of crisis men may work and fight
and die for their country but they toil for their families all their lives.
Social regulation: The family is guarded both by social taboos and by legal regulations.
The society takes precaution to safeguard this organization from any possible
breakdown.
3.3 Family Patterns
Throughout history, family composition has affected children's lives in important ways. The size
and structure of the family and its capacity to sustain itself has played a critical role in how
children are raised, their level of formal education, and whether or not they participate in the
labor force. The principal household structures are nuclear, extended, and blended. The nuclear
household contains two generations, parents and children. Extended families are
multigenerational and include a wide circle of kin and servants. In blended households–the
result of divorce or the death of a spouse followed by remarriage and a new generation of
children–mothers and fathers can be both biological parents and STEPPARENTS simultaneously.
Patterns of Family Structure through the Modern Era
Household structure took a variety of forms throughout Europe and North America during the
fifteenth to eighteenth centuries. Research during the late twentieth century on European
family systems situated these forms within sharp geographical boundaries over time. Those
models, however, have since been adjusted, with consensus that geographical areas held more
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
than one family pattern contemporaneously. Moreover, household systems sometimes
changed over historical cycles. Finally, households were not necessarily autonomous but part of
a wider network of relations with the community. The nuclear family, with late marriage
preceded by a term of service in another household, was one common form in northwest
Europe and North America, while multi-generational households were common to southern
and eastern Europe. In Albania, Bulgaria, and European Russia as well as some parts of Italy,
Greece, Spain, and Portugal, new households were formed when large ones divided or small
ones combined. Marriage was not restricted to one son or daughter, there were few servants
save for the rich, and households were home to multiple married couples. Children thus were
supervised by co-resident adult kin. Elsewhere, in parts of central and southern France, Italy,
Austria, and Germany, nuclear households combined with the fission and fusion processes of
the East and South. Others contained two residential married couples consisting of parents and
a married son. This usually occurred when there was not enough land to start a separate
household.
Age at marriage and life expectancy were two important variables influencing household
structure. Early marriage permitted a longer cycle of fertility than marrying late. Late
marriage for women, from the mid to late twenties, was a means of restricting the number
of births per household. Late marriage for men may or may not have affected the
household's fertility cycle. It did, however, impinge upon the number of years fathers would
be available to their children. The same was true for mothers. In fact one or both parents
could be expected to die during the child's lifetime during the early modern period, creating
the potential for economic hardship. There was a large percentage of ORPHANS, many of
whom were farmed out to other families as servants, laborers, or apprentices. They lived
with their employers rather than in their natal households. In other cases, the death of a
parent brought remarriage, new stepsiblings, and the constitution of a blended family. This
was common, for example, in New England and the Chesapeake area of North America
during the colonial era. Children too died young. INFANT MORTALITY rates were very high
during the early modern period, making it highly uncertain whether parents could expect
their children to reach an age when they could help support the family household or sustain
them in their elderly years.
INHERITANCE practices also affected household structure. Primogeniture in the nuclear
family insured that the patrimony remained intact, under the authority of the eldest son
upon his father's death. That son was expected to marry and carry on the family's future
over time. In a stem family, common in Austria, brothers might work for the eldest sibling
but would not be allowed to marry or to inherit. Sisters might marry or take vows, yet only
the eldest son would inherit the family estate. Partible inheritance, on the other hand,
allowed for the formation of separate households among all children. Extended families,
whose size was generally limited by high mortality and low fertility, practiced joint
inheritance, that is, shared ownership of their patrimony.
During the early modern period another important variable influencing household structure
was the family's proximity to a means of production and its ability to sustain itself. Climate,
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
geography, the productivity of the land, and the strength of the labor market all shaped
household composition, and consequently childhood experience, in important ways. They
helped determine whether or not people married and at what age, whether to try and
restrict fertility, whether children worked and/or went to school, and whether or not they
would be able to live at home under the supervision of their parents. Affluent households
might have had less incentive to restrict fertility since they did not depend on offspring to
contribute to the family economy. They did quite frequently, however, restrict marriage in
order to keep the family patrimony intact. Modest households, however, presented another
case, for there children were an economic liability. Children could remain under the family
hearth only if there was a viable means of sustaining them. Otherwise they were sent to
work as domestic servants, laborers, or apprentices, living in employers' houses. Frequently
in northwest Europe and North America, marriage took place only when the couple could
afford to set up an independent household. Life-cycle servitude followed by late marriage
was common because it was only at that stage that couples had accumulated the resources
needed to set up the customary separate household. In extended families, on the other
hand, where married children were joining a preestablished household, age at marriage was
normally younger. The main consideration in deciding whether to marry was whether the
new couple had the means to sustain a new family. Ten to 15 percent of the population
never achieved the means to marry.
Until the end of the nineteenth century, land was perhaps the most important financial
resource for the majority of the population. Its availability and how it was managed affected
household composition. Firm assurance of land tenure, even in conditions where land was
scarce, could encourage the establishment of more complex households, while adequate
landed resources lent itself to the establishment of small, independent households. Peasant
families required an adequate but not excess number of children to work the land. The
nuclear household ideally contained several children spaced widely so that the oldest had
left the household by the time the youngest came along, thus avoiding surplus mouths to
feed. This was achieved by postponing marriage to the late twenties for men and early
twenties for women, a practice that shortened their years of fertility. In addition, parents
often sent their children to live and serve other households in need.
Yet not all peasants were able to avail themselves of land. Population growth and land
shortage, characteristic of eighteenth-century North America, for example, forced sons to
leave the family hearth. Landless villagers who sought employment where they could find it
may not have formally married but procreated. This often resulted in pools of abandoned
women and children. On the other hand, some peasant economies were replaced by more
commercialized systems in which rural households were centers of production associated
with the textile industry. Free markets created a greater demand for labor, drawing families
into the production process. Children could remain at home rather than be farmed out to
service if there was work allowing them to contribute to the sustenance of the household.
This was also true when the center of production moved outside the home, a phenomenon
characteristic of the nineteenth century. Fathers and children rather than mothers went to
work in factories to support the family. In short, household composition and children's
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
ability to remain living with their parents depended heavily on the availability of economic
resources and employment.
The household as a center of production affected childhood experience. To age seven, even
among slaveholders in North America, children were generally exempt from work. But from
then on they were gradually brought into the labor force. On farms young children collected
firewood and worms on the vines, herded livestock, weeded, and helped around the house.
After age ten boys might be trained outside in fields and stables to learn to be farmers or
herders, while girls were tracked into domestic work. By the eighteenth century children
were helping with sewing, spinning, lace making, and nail making. Slave children in North
America had a similar experience, with light chores to age six and domestic or farm labor
after age ten. In midwest and western North America, where the labor market was small,
gender roles were less rigid than normal. Girls worked in the tobacco fields and did herding,
harvesting, and hunting while boys took on domestic duties as well as working outside. On
the frontier, children assumed duties earlier than in other regions. The young panned gold
as well as performing a variety of domestic chores.
When the household did not offer a means of production it affected children in dramatic
ways. In the nineteenth century they left school at the minimum required by the state and
were put to work in factories, much to the horror of social reformers, and they were not
normally under parental supervision. Cotton mills and coal mines, industries with steam
power and machinery, drew children into the adult labor market. In the cities poor children
took to street selling. All the while, domestic service was one of the largest employers of
child labor. At the beginning of the nineteenth century children were 10 percent of the
labor force in the American Northeast; by 1832 they constituted 40 percent.
Childhood experience during the early modern period was thus affected in numerous ways
by family structure. First, their primary caretakers differed according to the configuration of
the household. In nuclear families, parents normally assumed responsibility for raising their
children, while in extended and blended families other adults besides the parents might be
involved in the lives of the children. That might include uncles, aunts, and GRANDPARENTS
in multi-generational extended families, while in a blended family, where one parent has
remarried and constituted a new family, children might be raised by both a stepparent and
a parent. In a nuclear household, children had economic and emotional relationships with
their parents alone, while in extended and blended families the network of ties was
potentially much larger. Domestic production in the home facilitated both parents assuming
responsibility for child rearing. In the nineteenth century, when production moved outside
the domestic hearth, mothers assumed more authority over children while fathers worked
outside.
Another way household structure affected childhood was that the quality of a child's
experience was directly affected by whether he or she was expected to contribute to the
financial well-being of the household and whether he or she would inherit land. The latter
determined whether or not marriage would be possible. Broader trends affected ability to
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
marry as well. In periods of demographic rise and land shortage, marriage was delayed and
restricted, while the opposite conditions encouraged early marriage. Although parents
assumed responsibility for children's religious instruction, until the early twentieth century
imparting vocational skills that would serve the means of production constituted the
primary responsibility in child rearing.
The Twentieth Century
The parameters of household structure and childhood experience described above
dramatically changed for the middle class during the first half of the twentieth century. The
steady decline of the birthrate in Europe and North America from the nineteenth century
was an important underpinning of this transformation. During the twentieth century highly
reliable BIRTH CONTROL methods and legalized abortion made the one- or two-child family
the norm. During the 1990s, for example, the average number of births per household in
Italy was only 1.2, and in Muslim communities of Europe such as Albania they averaged no
more than 2.5. With fewer children, parents devoted more time to their proper care and
upbringing. Other developments that contributed to the transformations in household
structure and childhood experience included state intervention in child labor, rising real
wages, COMPULSORY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE, and new ideals of childhood and family life.
Extended families also declined. In the nineteenth century, a grandparent often lived with
an adult child and her children, and rates of co-residence in Europe actually increased. But
in the 1920s older people began more consistently to live separately, a sign of quiet change
in family structure.
Increasing prosperity had the effect of extending childhood beyond the minimum that had
been experienced by working-class families. For the more fortunate, life shifted from the
farm, domestic manufacture, factory, or streets to the home where parents nurtured and
emotionally protected youngsters and socialized them for the wider world. While poorer
children continued to receive minimum schooling so that they could help support their
families, middle-class children increasingly withdrew from the labor force, enrolled in
schools, and became the focus of parental investment both emotionally and financially. The
age at which children became wage earners for their families was thus delayed to the late
teens or beyond, and the period in which children remained living in the parental household
was prolonged. Ethnicity and social class produced variation. Immigrants to North America,
for example, brought their own customs. If they were poor, they depended more on their
children to be wage earners rather than students. Socially mobile immigrants placed greater
emphasis on schooling and higher education.
The transition from wage earner to schoolchild did not occur in a linear fashion. World War
II, for example, disrupted all aspects of family life and the family economy due to
separation, death, and financial hardship. Women entered the workforce while men were
at war, and children were forced to mature more precipitously. However, from the 1950s,
childhood in Europe and America became a defined stage of the life cycle which preceded
formal schooling and vocational training and was clearly separate from the adult world of
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
work. Age at marriage dropped, birthrates were exceptionally high compared to preceding
periods, and divorce rates were low. There was a sharp gendered division of childrearing
responsibilities, with mothers at home, ideally giving affection and emotional support, and
fathers out in the work force supporting their families. There was a marked preference for
residential independence. In North America families moved to suburbs where, with
economic prosperity, they could endow their children with material goods and better
education. Middle-class children had more leisure time and money than ever before, but
not without some cost: by the 1990s the majority of parents worked outside the home to
maintain consumption standards, leaving children in care facilities.
The late twentieth century, especially in North America, produced quantitative leaps in the
structure of the modern family. Divorce was relatively rare until the twentieth century.
However, from 1900 onward it spread in both Europe and North America, becoming
available to all social groups by the end of the century. By the 1980s birthrates had fallen
dramatically and divorce rates had doubled or tripled. Women obtained greater property
rights as well as the possibility of alimony and child support, making divorce a realistic
option. Moreover, women could more effectively choose whether or not to marry. The
result was a rise in singleparent households and households headed by women. Financial
independence, coupled with desires for self-fulfillment and gender equality, caused more
women than ever to enter the labor force. These developments reduced the amount of
time mothers could spend with their children. Fathers took greater responsibility in
nurturing their children as mothers contributed to the family economy, but in cases where
both parents worked, parents in the United States struggled to find child care arrangements
while parents in Europe usually placed children in day care facilities.
The late twentieth century ushered in new household structures, with unwed parents, gay
parents, and remarried parents who brought with them a series of step-relations. Divorce,
premarital pregnancy, and single parenthood lost some social stigma. Children in divorced
families generally experienced independence at an earlier age. Some developed close
relationships with more than one adult, and they developed new relationships with each
parent. However, their sense of stability could not help but be disrupted by the breakup of
the nuclear family unit, parents dating other people, and in some instances one or two new
families being formed as a result of their parents' new relationships. Blended families
require considerable emotional if not financial adjustment. Children with SAME-SEX
PARENTS also face complex social and emotional issues, including building perspective on
gender roles as well as dealing with the community's reception of their nontraditional
family structure. For the most part, in the early twenty-first century gay marriage has not
been legally recognized in the United States and has been only marginally recognized in
Europe. Children face larger challenges from society when their parents' relationship does
not fit more familiar role models and is not supported by the institutional structures that
uphold heterosexual marriage. On balance, same-sex parents are exceptionally committed
to caring for and nurturing their children. The twenty-first century thus witnesses greater
social complexities in household structure and family patterns that inevitably impact
childhood, itself a structure continually in transition.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
3.3 Forms of Family
Types and forms of the family
On the basis of marriage: Family has been classified into three major types:



Polygamous or polygynous family
Polyandrous family
Monogamous family
On the basis of the nature of residence family can be classified into three main forms.



Family of matrilocal residence
Family of patrilocal residence
Family of changing residence
On the basis of ancestry or descent family can be classified into two main types


Matrilineal family
Patrilineal family
On the basis of size or structure and the depth of generations family can be classified into two
main types.


Nuclear or the single unit family
Joint family
On the basis of the nature of relations among the family members the family can be classified
into two main types.


The conjugal family which consists of adult members among there exists sex
relationship.
Consanguine family which consists of members among whom there exists blood
relationship- brother and sister, father and son etc.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
4. Marriage –
a. Definition of Marriage
Marriage understood as the conjugal union of husband and wife really serves the good of
children, the good of spouses, and the common good of society. The arguments against this
view fail while the arguments for it succeed.
4.1 FORMS AND MEANINGS OF MARRIAGE
The English words "marriage" (from Latin maritus: husband) and "matrimony" (from Latin
mater: mother) do not give us any clue as to the origin and meaning of the phenomenon we are
trying to discuss here. The same is, of course, also true for similar terms with Latin roots in
other European languages. More enlightening is the Germanic word "wedlock" (from Old
English wedlac: pledge) which suggests that some sort of promise or contract, i.e., a special
relationship between people is involved. Indeed, the best characterization of this relationship is
perhaps provided by the German word Ehe (from Old High German êwa: law).
At any rate, when we compare marriages in different societies and different historical periods,
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
we soon discover that marital partners everywhere have very definite duties toward each
other. These duties may not always be spelled out in detail, but they are well understood and
readily enforced in each case. Therefore, if we had to look for a common denominator in all the
various forms of marriage known to mankind, we might very well find it in the element of
mutual obligation. Naturally, this obligation itself can appear in many different forms. It may
spring from an informal silent agreement, or it may be loudly proclaimed in a popular
celebration. It may extend well beyond the couple to their offspring, to the families on both
sides, and even to the entire community. It may be considered permanent, or it may end by
mutual agreement or unilateral action. None of this matters here: Some officially recognized
mutual obligation exists as long as the partners are married. Where men and women make love
and have children without it we do not speak of a marriage, but of an affair, a dalliance, a
romance, or a state of cohabitation.
As we can see, marriage is a very special phenomenon which involves more than housekeeping,
sexual intercourse, and procreation. These "natural" human activities do not, by themselves,
make a marriage. Its real meaning derives instead from social sanctions and expectations.
Indeed, as such expectations change from one society to another, marriage is bound to change
with them. Therefore, it is not very helpful to talk about marriage in generalities. It seems much
more promising to list and describe the possible forms and functions of marriage, and for our
present limited purpose it is perhaps best if we begin with a simple classification.
Traditionally, scholars have distinguished between four basic types of marriage:
1. Monogamy (i.e., one husband having one wife),
2. (polygamy:) polygyny (i.e., one husband having several wives),
3. (polygamy:) polyandry (i.e., several husbands having one wife),
4. group marriage (i.e., several husbands having several wives).
Monogamy is the prevalent form of marriage today. Polygyny and polyandry (collectively called
polygamy) were once practiced in various parts of the world, but now seem to be on the
decline. Group marriage has always been rare.
In Victorian times it was often believed that the four basic types of marriage were
representative of different stages of human evolution. Thus, the earliest human beings had
supposedly lived in a state of indiscriminate promiscuity until they established some form of
group marriage. On the next stage of civilization they then entered a matriarchal phase
characterized by polyandry. This, in turn, was followed by the patriarchal phase in which
polygyny became dominant, and finally monogamy emerged as the crowning achievement of
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
human progress. So far, this beguiling theory has not been confirmed, however. On the
contrary, we have learned in the meantime that all four types of marriage have existed since
earliest times and under all sorts of technological and economic conditions. Some very
"primitive" peoples have always practiced monogamy, while some "civilized" peoples have
been and still are polygamous. Moreover, we now understand that each of the four basic types
of marriage can appear in several variations. For example, there is quite a difference between
monogamy as a lifelong sacramental union and monogamy as a temporary civil contract.
Polygyny can mean very different things under different circumstances, such as when a man
takes a concubine, or when he marries his brother's widow, or when all his wives are sisters and
live under his roof, or when they come from different families and maintain their own separate
households. Polyandry can mean that a woman marries several brothers, of whom only the
oldest is the official father of her children, or it can mean that she marries several unrelated
men who all enjoy equal rights. Group marriage can be the accidental outgrowth of polygamous
practices or a conscious "scientific" experiment.
Still, today there is little doubt that monogamy in one variation or another has always been the
most common type of marriage. Both group marriage and polyandry have been found only in
very few cultures, and polygyny, although permitted in many societies, has almost always been
restricted to the wealthier classes. After all, it has never been cheap to purchase and then
support more than one wife. Sometimes, of course, wives earned more than their keep as
laborers, but even in that case their husband had to be powerful and influential, or he could not
have created such an advantage for himself. The other men would have insisted on the same
privilege, and this could not have been granted, because "naturally" there is only about one
woman for every man. The biological balance between males and females is nearly even, and
therefore polygamy can flourish only under exceptional conditions. Such conditions may result
from a custom of female infanticide, from frequent wars, in which many men are killed, or from
political and religious beliefs that accord a few persons some special prestige. However, where
conditions are "normal", and where people are given a fairly equal chance, they tend to favor
monogamy.
In view of this fact, one might perhaps call monogamy the "natural" form of marriage, although
one should not conclude that everyone will always be happy with it, or that it is practical in
every situation. Indeed, even in societies which insist on the strictest monogamy there is often
an unofficial toleration of premarital and extramarital intercourse, such as in prostitution,
adultery, and homosexual contact. Other societies are still more tolerant and establish
monogamy as a flexible or "open" institution from the very start. In addition, they may also
permit ready divorces in case of marital failure. At any rate, experience seems to show that one
cannot impose a single form of monogamy, or even a single type of marriage on all men and
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
women everywhere. One can, of course, proclaim an ideal, but in real life one has to allow for
some improvisation and experimentation.
Nevertheless, even where husbands and wives are given the greatest sexual latitude, marriage
is always considered important and is clearly distinguished from nonmarital unions. That is to
say, generally speaking, it hardly matters how people arrange, maintain, or modify their
marriages, as long as they get married at all. The details may differ from one culture to another,
but the principle is nowhere in doubt: Marriage as such is good and must be supported. It also
must be proclaimed and made visible to outsiders. For instance, in certain societies married
persons are permitted or obliged to dress in a more "dignified" manner than spinsters and
bachelors. By the same token, the marital state often carries particular privileges and is
celebrated with splendid wedding ceremonies or sumptuous nuptials. These celebrations
themselves usually follow some preordained pattern and require their own kind of clothing. In
short, there seems to be something special about marriage which makes it different from any
other human relationship, and which calls for some public acknowledgment. All of this indicates
that marriage serves more than private personal needs, and that it does not exist for the
benefit of the spouses alone. Instead, an obvious social interest is involved. It is further obvious
that this interest affects not only the form, but also the meaning of marriage, and that the
latter can therefore be understood only if one considers both its individual and social aspects.
Of course, in everyday life we normally talk about marriage without worrying much about its
precise definition or all of its possible implications. Even professionals are often deliberately
vague as they try to illuminate different facets of the phenomenon. Thus, depending on the
context, we can find marriage described in very different terms from very different points of
view. In American law, for example, marriage may be variously defined as an institution, a
status, or a contract. Accordingly, in this country today politicians praise "the institution of
marriage", bureaucrats ask other people to declare their "marital status", and lawyers draw up
formal "marriage contracts" for their cautious clients, spelling out certain marital rights and
duties in advance.
Actually, marriage contracts are neither new nor typically American. Many societies all over the
world have known written marriage agreements, if not between bride and bridegroom, then
between their respective families. Indeed, in feudal times a marriage contract could seal an
alliance between whole tribes or nations. At present, such motives are still formalized on a
more modest scale by our own upper classes. Thus, marriage contracts are customary where
the possible loss or consolidation of huge family fortunes is involved. After all, in these cases
the marriage could well determine the fate not only of two, but perhaps dozens or hundreds of
individuals. Still, as a rule, these contracts cover only externals, such as dowry, allowances,
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
financial settlements, inheritance, etc. They rarely say anything about marital conduct in the
proper sense and do not concern themselves with questions of intimacy. Therefore, they are in
fact mere safeguards or security measures. They accompany and protect, but do not constitute
marriage.
This elementary difference has not always been clearly perceived. On the contrary, the fact that
marital unions may be protected or guided by contracts and even contain some contractive
elements, has led some modern observers to believe that marriage itself is a contract and
nothing more. This view also seems to be supported by certain customs and regulations in
other cultures. For example, Islamic law explicitly defines marriage (nikah) as "a contract for the
legalization of sexual intercourse and the procreation of children". As such, it is strictly a private
matter, requires no religious ceremony, and can be terminated under certain conditions.
However, this definition was never meant to be exhaustive and should not be read
dogmatically. After all, the custom of mut'ah marriages indicates that the procreation of
children need not be essential to the contract. (For details see "Marriage in Islamic Countries.")
Furthermore, since it has been possible in Islamic countries for fathers to contract compulsory
marriages for their unwilling daughters, it cannot be assumed that the contracting parties are
always bridegroom and bride. Similarly, in early medieval Europe, where marriage was a
transfer of lordship over a woman from her father to her husband, the bride was not herself
party to the contract, but rather its object. Her lot improved only under the influence of the
Church, which gave marriage a religious meaning and elevated it to the status of a sacrament.
Needless to say, once marriage had been endowed with a sacramental character, it could no
longer be called a contract in any sense of the word. First of all, it was now a vehicle of grace,
and thus its essence lay not in any formal stipulations, but in the mutual decision of both
partners which made them "one flesh" (Mark 10:8). This reduced both the influence of parents
and the importance of economic considerations. As a result, for a while even secret marriages
were permitted. Secondly, since the marital relationship mirrored that of Christ with his church,
it could not be dissolved: "What God has joined together, let not man put asunder" (Mark
10:9). However, this latter change eventually came to be resented, and therefore the
Protestant Reformation returned to the concept of marriage as a civil contract, making it once
again possible for Christians to obtain a divorce. In Puritan England, John Milton called marriage
a "covenant" which need not bind the parties forever.
The secularization of marriage was, of course, especially welcomed by the emerging
bourgeoisie. The bourgeois lived in an increasingly sober world of commodities which were
subject to sale, disposal, contract, and regulation, and thus he had less and less sympathy for
mythical or supernatural notions. Finally, in the 18th century the German bourgeois
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
philosopher Immanuel Kant felt enlightened enough to put the matter in its baldest terms
when he defined marriage as "an association of two persons of different sex for the life-long
mutual possession of their sexual qualities" (Rechtslehre, § 24}. Much could be said about this
definition, but here we can simply point out that it is obviously not universal. The references to
"two" persons and a "lifelong" mutual possession indicate that only a special form of Western
marriage is being considered. Moreover, it should be noted that there is no mention of any
contract. After all, irrevocable personal contracts are out of harmony with the modern
demands for individual freedom. The lifelong possession of one human being by another is now
alien to our whole system of justice. People can no longer legally sell themselves as slaves or
buy someone else as a servant for life. Much less are such contracts acceptable in the case of
marriage. Indeed, even in ancient Rome marital vows never to separate were invalid before the
law. Therefore, the "association" mentioned by Kant must be more than just a legal agreement.
However, it should be apparent that even our contemporary, soluble marriage can never be
fully described as a contract. The unique personal relationship that exists between spouses
cannot be created, shaped, and maintained by written provisions, clauses, or codicils, or by
signatures on some dotted line. This relationship is so intimate that no comprehensive and
binding contract could possibly be devised for it, and it goes without saying that nonbinding
contracts are worthless. Even simple common sense tells bridegroom and bride not to
approach each other in a legalistic spirit, so as not to doom their marriage from the start. On
the other hand, they also know that, once a marriage has foundered, it cannot be saved by the
law.
These few observations may be sufficient to show that the subject of marriage is too complex
for easy generalizations. The precise nature of the marital union itself is elusive, and its role in
society varies with changing conditions, Thus, no single definition can capture all conceivable
meanings of marriage or fit all of its forms. Still, we may obtain at least some limited insight, if
we put the issue in some historical and cross-cultural perspective. The following pages,
therefore, briefly sketch the past development and present state of marriage in Western and a
few non-Western societies. A concluding section offers some speculations about the future.
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
5. Socialization – 04 hours
a. Socialization
b. Development in children
c. Resocialization
6. Gender and Sexuality – 06 hours
a. Sexual Differentiation
b. Sex Vs Gender
c. Gender roles over the Life span
d. Social Inequalities between Men and Women
e. Feminist Theories
7. Social Interaction and Everyday life – 04 hours
a. Civil Inattention
b. Non Verbal Communication
c. Face and culture
d. Social rules and Talk
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
e. Encounters
f. Impression management
8. Stratification and Class Structure 03 hours
a. Social Stratification
b. Basic Systems of Stratification
c. Theories of Stratification
9. Ethnicity and Race – 03 hours
a. Ethnicity
b. Racism
c. Prejudice and Discrimination
d. Stereotypes and Scapegoats
10. Deviance and Crime - 04 hours
a. Norms, Conformity
b. Social Control
c. Deviance
d. Crimes
11. Education - 04 hours
a. Development of Literacy and Schooling
b. Origins of Development of Education System
c. Functions of Education
d. Consequences of Education
12. Religion - 03 hours
a. What is Religion
b. Characteristics of Religion
c. Major Religions of the World
13. Population – 03 hours
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
a.
b.
c.
d.
Statistical measures
Industrial revolution
The third world
Population Growth, Environment and Poverty
14. Introduction to Sociology – 02 hours
a. What is Sociology
b. Definitions of Sociology
c. Importance of Study Sociology
15. Culture, Society and the Individual – 03 hours
a. What is culture
b. Language
c. Elements of Culture
d. Organization of a culture
e. Norms and Values
16. Family
a.
b.
c.
- 02 hours
Characteristics of Family
Family Patterns
Forms of Family
17. Marriage – 02 hours
a. Definition of Marriage
b. Forms of Marriage
18. Socialization – 04 hours
a. Socialization
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
b. Development in children
c. Resocialization
19. Gender and Sexuality – 06 hours
a. Sexual Differentiation
b. Sex Vs Gender
c. Gender roles over the Life span
d. Social Inequalities between Men and Women
e. Feminist Theories
20. Social Interaction and Everyday life – 04 hours
a. Civil Inattention
b. Non Verbal Communication
c. Face and culture
d. Social rules and Talk
e. Encounters
f. Impression management
21. Stratification and Class Structure 03 hours
a. Social Stratification
b. Basic Systems of Stratification
c. Theories of Stratification
22. Ethnicity and Race – 03 hours
a. Ethnicity
b. Racism
c. Prejudice and Discrimination
d. Stereotypes and Scapegoats
23. Deviance and Crime - 04 hours
a. Norms, Conformity
b. Social Control
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
c. Deviance
d. Crimes
24. Education - 04 hours
a. Development of Literacy and Schooling
b. Origins of Development of Education System
c. Functions of Education
d. Consequences of Education
25. Religion - 03 hours
a. What is Religion
b. Characteristics of Religion
c. Major Religions of the World
26. Population – 03 hours
a. Statistical measures
b. Industrial revolution
c. The third world
d. Population Growth, Environment and Poverty
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012
Sociology for Healthcare Professionals, IIHS 2011/2012