Introduction to Sociology What is Sociology? Connections to Social Work Basic Insight of Sociology What is a Sociologist? Natural Curiosity (focus on the too sacred, too repulsive, too boring) and The Social Organization of Man Sociology like a Passion than a Pastime Introduction to Sociology What is the sociological perspective? Personal Experience: 1. No understanding of other cultures. 2. Sweeping Conclusions. 3. Errors in Understanding. Leon Festinger’s Need to Know Fritz Heider’s Naïve Psychology Introduction to Sociology Perspective: 1. Removes us from familiar experiences 2. Critically and objectively examine phenomenon 3. Conscious effort to question the obvious Social Science vs. Natural Sciences Introduction to Sociology Difference Between Social Problems and Sociological Ones First Mission of Sociology: much of what may initially appear to be one way may not be that way at all in practice. Origins of Sociology Auguste Comte Social Statics and Social Dynamics Introduction to Sociology Herbert Spencer Social Darwinism Survival of the fittest Karl Marx Optimistic view of Man 2 Classes: Elite and Proletariat Means of production: False Consciousness, Class Consciousness Introduction to Sociology Work is not rewarding in any form. Economic Determinism Emile Durkheim Social Facts Collective Conscience Max Weber The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Captialism Rationalization of Social Relations Verstehen Introduction to Sociology Charles Cooley and George H. Mead Self and symbolic interactionism Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology Structural Functionalism Conflict Perspective Symbolic Interactionism Dramaturgical Sociology Ethnomethodology Research Methods Methods of “Knowing” Logic Common Agreement Direct Personal Observation Things That Inhibit the Research Process Tradition Inaccurate Observation Research Methods Overgeneralization Selective Observation Terms in Research Attribute Variable Parsimoniously Independent, Dependent Variables Exogenous and Intervening Variables Research Methods Goals of Research Exploration Descriptive Analysis Types of Research Design Experiments Surveys Field Research Research Methods Types of Field Research Participant Observer Participant as Observer Observer as Participant Complete Observer Ethical Issues in Field Research Culture Culture Shock Ethnocentrism Cultural Relativity Components of Culture Nonmaterial Culture=Symbolic Culture Gestures Culture Language—words are symbols How it allows culture to exist: 1. Allows experiences to be cumulative 2. Provides a shared past and future 3. Allows shared understandings Culture Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Values Norms: folkways and mores Subcultures/Countercultures Groups Social Organization Social Positions: Status and Role Ascribed and Achieved Statuses Status Symbols Master Status Problems with Statuses and Roles Role Strain/Role Conflict Groups Types of Groups Primary/Secondary Dyads/Triads Communities Territorial Non-Territorial Reference Groups Groups Interaction in Groups Hobbs—War of all against all. Principles of Interaction Pleasure Rationality, Reciprocity, Fairness Principles Influence of Groups on Behavior/Group Conformity Trivial: Asch, Sherif Moderate: Newcomb and Libermann Serious: Zimbardo and Milgram Zimbardo Study Environ Cues New Role Expect Role Merger Neg. Interaction Reward Groups o Altruism and the Bystander Effect Formal Organizations and Bureaucracies History of Bureaucracies—Feudal System Paternalistic Organizations Loss of control Poor communication History of decision making Questions of Efficiency and Effectiveness: Compared to What? Groups Parkinson’s Laws #1 and #2 Finding Responsible Decision Makers Trained Incapacity/Ritualism Organizational Survival Socialization Feral children Isabelle in 1938 in Ohio So what’s the key to this change in behavior? Language…and stimulating interaction Orphanages, Skeel and Dye’s study. Main Finding? Those assigned to the challenged women gained 28 IQ points, control group lost 30 IQ points. So how do we become human? Socialization Mead and Cooley 1. We imagine how we appear to those around us. 2. We interpret others’ reactions 3. We develop a self-concept. Connections to self-esteem, esp. among women in our society Socialization Mead:Role Taking: The Significant Other and the Generalized Other Play, Game, Generalized Other Stages of Self Agents of Socialization Family, Peers, Schools, Media Resocialization Deviance and Social Control Deviance Defined Theories of Deviance Individual/Biological Social Structural Miller’s Focal Concerns Merton’s Theory of Anomie Deviance and Social Control Social Process Sutherland’s Differential Association Labeling Theory Process of Labeling Act (Primary Deviance), Status Degradation Ceremony, Label (Master Status) Retrospective Interpretation, Internalization (Secondary Deviance), Deviant Subculture/Career Can Label be Removed? Crime