Bits and pieces have been collected over the years - and continually updated in this Introductory powerpoint for Sociology

1. Marty W. Deane – Instructor
SOCL 100 - 503
W 6:00-8:50

2. What Is Sociology?
.The systematic study of human society
and social behavior
• Systematic
 Scientific
discipline that focuses attention on
patterns of behavior
• Human society
 Group
behavior is primary focus; how groups
influence individuals and vice versa
• At the “heart of sociology”
 The
sociological perspective which offers a unique
view of society

3. During class, carefully observe the
interaction and behavior of the
instructor and the other students.
What patterns do you see in who speaks?
What about how people use space?
What categories of people are taking the
class in the first place…
Think: race, social class, and gender, age.

6. •What was the reason for such a
massacre? (how could society have
contributed?)
•When did it become a societal issue
versus a personal issue?
(Sociological V. Psychological)
•What was the response to the
shootings?
•Could Columbine/Va Tech/etc. have had
an effect?

7. To Understand Sociology:
TWO things you must develop:
Sociological Perspective
Sociological Imagination

9. Keep in mind, that the perspective you
take influences what you see
One perspective emphasizes certain aspects
of an event
Another perspective accepts different
aspects of the same event
Same event – seen in different ways.

10. What do you see?

11. WHAT DO YOU SEE HERE?

12. Can you see both parallel and the slope?

13. Benefits of the Sociological
Perspective
1. Helps us assess the truth of
common sense
2. Helps us assess both opportunities
and constraints in our lives
3. Empowers us to be active
participants in our society
4. Helps us live in a diverse world

14. Importance of Global
Perspective
(as a sociological perspective )
Where we live makes a great difference in
shaping our lives
Societies throughout the world are increasingly
interconnected through technology and
economics
Many problems that we faced in the United States
are more serious elsewhere
Thinking globally is a good way to learn more
about ourselves

15. The Sociological Perspective:
Peter Berger (1963)
Seeing the general in the particular
Sociologists identify general social patterns in
the behavior of particular individuals
Individuals are unique but, society’s social
forces shape us into “kinds” of people (e.g.
Women, Catholics, Hispanics)
Seeing the strange in the familiar
Giving
up the idea that human behavior is
simply a matter of what individuals decide to
do (e.g. who is more likely to divorce?)
Understanding that society shapes our lives

16. Sociological Perspective
People are influenced by their
society
An individual’s identity is socially
bestowed
(who we are – and how people treat us
are usually consequences of our social
location in society)
Our personalities are shaped by the
way we are accepted, rejected, and
defined by other people.
(e.g. are we worthy – depends on the
values of the groups in which we are

17. •Perspective: What the “Blurred Lines” being described in
the song? This was a #1 Song…. Controversial? Why?
•Sociology is about Asking the right
questions
•Seeing a different
perspective – what if
we flip the script?

18. Applying the Sociological Perspective
Periods of crisis or social change prompt
people to think sociologically:
(e.g. Great Depression: Something is wrong with
me, I can’t find a job! (personal)
Thinking
sociologically : The economy has
collapsed there are few jobs to be found –
t isn’t just me
I

19. Sociological Imagination
• C. Wright Mills
1959

20. Age 28 - 1944

21. Mills traveled via motorcycle back and forth to Columbia University

22. C. Wright Mills’ Sociological
Imagination
The power of the sociological perspective
lies not just in changing individual lives but
in transforming society
Society, (not personal failings) is a root
cause of social problems
The sociological imagination transforms
personal problems into public issues

23. Mills: Sociological Imagination
….enables
us to grasp the connection
between history and biography
Turns personal problems into public issues
The Society in which we grow up, and our
particular location in that society, lie at the
center of what we do and what we think.
To understand others issues – think of the
social forces that are affecting their lives.

24. Mills Basic Assumptions
Human beings cannot be understood
apart from the social and historical
structures in which they are formed
and in which they interact
The sociological imagination is simply
a “quality of mind” that allows us to
grasp “history” and biography” and the
relations between the two within
society.

25. Major Sociological Theories

26. All the Discussion about Perspective – Leads
to “The Big Three”
Structural-Functional - Macro
Social Conflict - Macro
Symbolic Interactionism -
Micro

27. Sociological Theory
Theory: a statement of how and why
facts are related
Explains social behavior to the real
world
Theoretical paradigm: a set of
fundamental assumptions that guides
theory

28. THE ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY
One of the youngest of academic disciplines,
sociology has it origins in powerful social forces:
Social Change
Industrialization, urbanization, political revolution, and
a new awareness of society
Science
3-Stages: Theological, Metaphysical & Scientific
Positivism – a way of understanding based on science
Gender & Race
These important contributions have been pushed to the
margins of society

29. Durkheim’s Study of
Suicide
Emile Durkheim’s research showed that society
affects even our most personal choices.
More likely to commit suicide : Male Protestants who
were wealthy and unmarried
Less likely to commit: Male Jews and Catholics who
were poor and married
One of the basic findings: Why?
The differences between these groups had to do with
“social integration”
Those with strong social ties had less of a chance of
COMMITING suicide

31. History and Biography
• Jimmie Hendrix 1970
• Jim Morrison 1971
• Janis Joplin - 1970

32. Teenage Wasteland
• 1967-1994

33. Structural –Functional
Paradigm
The Basics
A macro-level orientation, concerned with
broad patterns that shape society as a whole
Views society as a complex system whose parts
work together to promote solidarity and stability
Key Eelements:
Social structure refers to any relatively stable
patterns of social behavior found in social
institutions
Social function refers to the consequences for
the operation of society as a whole

34. Who’s Who in Structural-Functional Paradigm
Auguste Comte
Importance of social integration during
times of rapid change
Emile Durkheim
Helped establish sociology as a
university discipline/Major study of
suicide
Herbert Spencer
Compared society to the human body,

35. Social-Conflict Paradigm
The Basics:
A macro-oriented paradigm
Views society as an arena of inequality that
generates conflict and social change
Key elements:
Society is structured in ways to benefit a few at
the expense of the majority
Factors such as race, sex, class, and age are
linked to social inequality
Dominant group vs. Minority group relations
Incompatible interests and major differences

36. Who’s Who in Social-Conflict Paradigm
Karl Marx
Society is a complex system
characterized by inequality and
conflict that generate social change
W.E.B. DuBois
Race as the major problem facing the
United States in the twentieth century

37. Who’s Who in Social-Conflict Paradigm
Jane Adams
Although trained at the University of
Chicago – was not considered a serious
Sociologist because she was female
Harriet Martineau
First female Sociologist and fought for
changes in educational policy – so women
could have choices other than home

38. Symbolic Interaction
Paradigm
The Basics:
A micro-level orientation, a close-up
focus on social interactions in specific
situations
Views society as the product of everyday
interactions of individuals
Key Elements:
Society is nothing more than the shared
reality that people construct as they
interact with one another
Society is a complex, ever-changing
mosaic of subjective meanings

39. Who’s Who in Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm
Max Weber
Understanding a setting from the
people in it
George Herbert Mead
How we build personalities from
social experience
Erving Goffman
Dramaturgical analysis
George Homans & Peter Blau
Social-exchange analysis

40. Critical Evaluation
Structural-Functional
Too broad, ignores inequalities of social class,
race & gender, focuses on stability at the
expense of conflict
Social-Conflict
Too broad, ignores how shared values and
mutual interdependence unify society, pursues
political goals
Symbolic-Interaction
Ignores larger social structures, effects of
culture, factors such as class, gender & race