CHAPTER 1: SOCIOLOGY An Introduction to the Foundations of Sociology

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1 CHAPTER 1: SOCIOLOGY An Introduction to the Foundations of Sociology Overview of Opening Excerpt Dennis Raphael, Poverty and Policy in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life (Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press Inc, 2007). A recent survey found that 23 percent of Canadians believe that people are poor because they are lazy. Sociology is all about understanding how social factors can impact individual lives. In Poverty and Policy in Canada: Implications for Health and Quality of Life, Professor Dennis Raphael provides an interdisciplinary perspective on poverty in Canada. Rather than simply asking why a particular individual is poor, he examines the structural causes of poverty how society and its distribution of resources are the primary causes of poverty. Essay question: What kinds of social factors may cause poverty? Chapter Outline 1. WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY? A. Sociology Defined Make Connections: The Sociology of Driving B. Developing a Sociological Imagination C. Émile Durkheim s Theory on Suicide a. Individual Choice and Social Forces Think Sociologically: Homelessness Individual Choice vs. Social Factors 2. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOUR MAJOR SOCIOLOGICAL PARADIGMS? A. The Functionalist s Perspective a. August Comte b. Herbert Spencer c. Émile Durkheim 1

2 d. Talcott Parsons e. Robert Merton f. Criticisms of Functionalism B. The Conflict Theorist s Perspective a. Karl Marx b. W.E.B. Du Bois c. Ralf Dahrendorf d. John Bellamy Foster e. Criticisms of Conflict Theory C. The Symbolic Interactionist s Worldview a. George Herbert Mead b. Herbert Blumer c. Erving Goffman Go Global: Homeless Labels Around the World d. Howard Becker e. Criticisms of Symbolic Interactionism D. The Feminist Theorist s Worldview a. Liberal vs. Radical Feminism b. Harriet Martineau c. Jane Addams d. Dorothy Smith e. Criticism of Feminist Theory E. The Four Paradigms How Are They Interrelated? Think Sociologically: Max Weber Theorist Who Transcends Categorization a. Applying Sociological Theories Wrap Your Mind Around the Theory 3. WHY IS COMMUNITY LEARNING IMPORTANT TO A SOCIETY? A. Getting Involved in Sociology Community Learning 2

3 Chapter Overview Sociology is a science guided by the basic understanding that "the social matters: our lives are affected, not only by our individual characteristics but by our place in the social world." Many things in our society can be used to study sociology, for example, video games and movies. The sociological imagination is the ability to look beyond the individual as the cause for success and failure and see the society in which one lives as the cause. Durkheim identified four different types of suicide egoistic, altruistic, fatalistic, and anomic. Both individual choices and social forces can affect our lives. A paradigm refers to a theoretical framework through which scientists study the world. Functionalism is a theoretical framework that defines society as a system of interrelated parts. Spencer, Durkheim, Parsons, and Merton are functionalist theorists. The theoretical framework that views society as an unequal system that brings about conflict and change is conflict theory. Marx, Du Bois, Dahrendorf and Foster are conflict theorists. Symbolic interactionism focuses on how people interact with others in their everyday lives. Mead, Blumer, Goffman, and Becker are symbolic interaction theorists. Feminist theory focuses on gender inequalities which are built in to the social structure. Addams, Martineau, and Smith are feminist theorists. Each theory has strengths and weaknesses. The four paradigms are interrelated and overlap. For example, power differentials (conflict theory) often indicate for whom things are functional and for whom they are not (functionalism). Further, people in power create labels and assign them to others (conflict theory) and these labels influence the outcomes of the individual (symbolic interactionism). Our most important label is our gender and gender stereotypes can limit the behaviour of an individual (feminist theory). Many sociologists don't know how to classify Weber because his views are so varied that he almost defies categorization. Community learning occurs when individuals and groups work to identify and address issues of public concern. When people are involved in community learning opportunities, it helps to break down barriers and help people understand each other. Chapter Learning Objectives What is sociology? What are the characteristics of the four major sociological perspectives? Why is community learning important? 3

4 Student Goals Understand what sociology is and how it is defined. Explain how sociology applies to everyday life. Explain the concept of the sociological imagination. Explain Durkheim's theory on suicide. Compare and contrast analysis of sociology using the functionalist, conflict, symbolic interactionist, and feminist paradigms. Explain the contributions of European and American founders of sociology. Understand how community learning relates to a better understanding of our society. In-Classroom Activities 1. Many students have misconceptions about what sociology is all about. As an introductory activity, ask students to write down what they think this course will be about. 2. Divide the class into small groups to examine the advertisements in various magazines. Help students to analyze the advertisements from a sociological perspective. For example, what do you learn about age, race/ethnicity, gender, occupation? What are the relationships concerning personal space? Help students to understand that these topics are some of the topics that sociology addresses. 3. Ask students to make a list of terms that describe themselves. Classify these as either personal characteristics (happy, friendly) or social categories (boy, student). Have students compare their lists. 4. Show clips of television programs or YouTube videos that illustrate various sociological concepts introduced in this chapter. Be sure to sensitize the students to how to examine these clips using a sociological perspective. Out-of-Classroom Activities 1. Ask students to volunteer to serve a meal at a community homeless shelter, or to volunteer for some community service activity on campus. 2. Have students fill out a table which summarizes the sociological theories. See the end of this chapter for a template. 4

5 3. Attend an event in your community or school. Tell students to analyze the event as a sociologist to use their sociological imagination. Write a list of the manifest and latent functions of the event. Discussion Questions 1. How did Max Weber transcend categorization? 2. How do you develop your sociological imagination? 3. Which of Durkheim s types of suicide do you think is the most common? Why? 4. Who are some of the early sociologists and what did they contribute to sociology? 5. Which of the four theoretical paradigms do you agree with the most? Essay Topics 1. What are the different types of suicide that Emile Durkheim identified? 2. How would you explain the term the sociological imagination to a friend who has never taken a sociology course? 3. Why do you think that there are four theoretical perspectives in sociology (rather than just one)? 4. Which of the four theoretical paradigms do you agree with the most? Explain why. 5. How is community service a good way to learn about sociology? 6. Imagine that the government decided to close all schools. What impacts would this have on you, as an individual student? What social impacts would this have? Key Words and Terms sociology is a science guided by the understanding that our lives are affected not only by our individual characteristics but by powerful social forces and our place in the social world. society refers to a group of people who live in a defined territory and who share social structures and who interact with each other. sociological imagination is the ability to understand how social forces influence the lives of individuals. micro is a small-scale perspective. 5

6 macro is a large-scale perspective. debunking is the practice of looking beyond the surface or obvious explanation and seeking out deeper explanations. functionalism is a theoretical perspective that sees society as a system of interrelated parts. conflict theory is a theoretical perspective that views society as an unequal system that brings about conflict and change. symbolic interactionism is a theoretical perspective that focuses on how people interact with others in their everyday lives. feminist theory is a theoretical perspective that focuses on gender inequalities which are built into the social structure. patriarchal refers to a social system that benefits men. social laws are statements of fact that are unchanging under given conditions and can be used as ground rules for any kind of society. social statics are the existing structural elements of society. social dynamics are changes in the structural elements of society. social Darwinism is a notion that suggests strong societies survive and weak ones become extinct. functions are social factors that affect people in a society. manifest functions are functions that lead to an expected consequence or outcome. latent functions are functions that lead to unforeseen or unexpected consequences. bourgeoisie refers to members of the capitalist class who own the means of production. proletariat refers to members of the working class who sell their labour for wages. petite bourgeoisie refers to the class of people who have their own businesses, but do not employ others. false consciousness is a person s lack of understanding of his or her position in society. class consciousness is an understanding of one s position in the class system. 6

7 Thomas theorem states that situations that are defined as real are real in their consequences. self refers to a person s identity and what makes that person different from others. dramaturgy is a theory of interaction in which all social life is like acting. androcentric bias is a focus on men which influences sociology in terms of how social research is done and which issues and topics are studied. Lecture Suggestions 1. After discussing individual choice versus social influence, ask questions such as the following: Who likes Hip Hop? Who likes pizza? Who has ever worn a dress? The idea is to ask about what seem to be very individual preferences, but in fact, are socially influenced. 2. Tell students that in the US edition of this textbook, there were only three theoretical perspectives covered feminist theory was not included. Discuss why feminist theory was added to the Canadian edition. 3. Read the article by Pfeiffer and Syed in Teaching Sociology (Pfeiffer, K. M. & Syed, A. How Sociology Leaders Teach: Some Key Principles in Teaching Sociology, 36: , 2008). Pick one of the nine methods that leaders used when teaching sociology and teach two concepts from Chapter 1 using the method you have chosen. Suggested Readings Kathleen Odell Korgen and Jonathan M. White, The Engaged Sociologist: Connecting the Classroom to the Community, 2 nd edition (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2009). C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination 40 th Anniversary Edition (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2000). George Ritzer, Sociological Theory (New York: McGraw Hill, 2010). 7

8 Review Questions 1. What is sociology? 2. What are the characteristics of the four major sociology paradigms? 3. How are the four sociology paradigms interrelated? 4. What is the sociological imagination? Critical Thinking Questions 1. Why is it important to study human social behaviour? 2. How would you be different if you had been born into another family? 3. Why is it important to use the sociological imagination when studying society and human behaviour? 4. How do people co-create society? 5. Do people change their behaviour from one setting to another? If so, why? Discover Sociology in Action Have students visit a local homeless shelter and volunteer for a few hours of community service. They can serve food, work for the food bank or other organizations that serve the homeless population. Students can write a two- to three-page paper discussing their experience and relating it in some way to what they have learned about structural causes of poverty and homelessness. Students should include a short discussion on what they personally learned from this experience. What other social issues do they think are important and relate to homelessness? What solutions do they propose to reduce or solve the homeless problem? 8

9 Perspective Functionalist Conflict Symbolic Interactionist Feminist The Major Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology Key Theorists View of Society Key Concepts Critique 9