Sociology - the Sociological Perspective

SOC*1100

Chapter 1; the Sociological Perspective:

Seeing the General in the Particular:

• Peter Berger described the sociological perspective as seeing the general in the particular (sociologists identify patterns in behaviour of certain individuals)
• Society acts differently on various categories (child vs adult, male vs female)

• Ex: soldier going into afghan home and opening fire killing 16.
• We look at the soldier’s particular situation not at soldier himself.
• The behaviour of the solider must be understood in the social, cultural or structural context of military life

Seeing the Strange in the Familiar:

• Society shapes what we think and do
• Social influences whether we pursue other options (ex: higher education)
• Many factors affect choices such as university (money, ethnicity, race, religion)

Seeing Society in Our Everyday Lives:

• Society can shape our most private choices (Ex: suicide)
• Emile Durkheim studied this concept on suicide
• He found men, protestants, wealthy people and those unmarried were more likely to take their own lives
• Those with strong social ties had lower chances of suicide
• We observe general social patterns in the most personal of actions

Seeing Sociologically: Marginality and Crisis:

• Living on the margins of society and living through crisis help people see how society shapes lives
• The greater one’s social marginality, the more likely they are to use the sociological perspective
• Social minorities see social patterns others are unaware of
• Periods of crisis make everyone feel a little off balance, encouraging use of the sociological perspective
• (Ex: great depression. One says “economy collapsed no jobs to be found” instead of “I can’t get a job, what’s wrong with me”

Importance of a Global Perspective:

• Global awareness is an extension of the sociological perspective
• Sociology shows us that our place in society shapes our life experiences, so the position of our society in the larger world system affects those in Canada

• 1) Where we live shapes the lives we lead (Ex:  number of kids in poorer countries)
• 2) Societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected (Ex: increase in technology. Same interests in food, clothing and music)
• 3) Many social problems we face in Canada are worse elsewhere (Ex: poverty in other countries is more common and severe)
• 4) Thinking globally helps us to learn more about ourselves (comparing life in various settings can lead to unexpected lessons)

Sociology and Public Policy:

• Sociology played a role in the development of Canadian social policy (Ex: Royal Commission on Health Services 1964-65 led to Canada’s medicare system)
• Sociological perspective helps us to see that the operation of society can shape the fate of many people

Sociology and Personal Growth:

• Using sociology benefits us in 4 ways…
• 1) Helps us asses the truth of “common sense” (sociology encourages us to question common beliefs and why they are widely held)
• 2) Helps us see the opportunities and constraints in our lives (we have a say on how to play our cards but society deals us the hand. The more we understand or “size up” the world the better we achieve our goals)
• 3) Empowers us to be active participants in our society (the more we understand about how society works, the more active citizens we become)
• 4) Helps us live in a diverse world (encourages us to think critically about strengths and weaknesses of all ways of life, including our own)

Careers: The Sociology Advantage:

• Sociology can benefit people who are looking to get into criminal justice
• Doctors/nurses  learn about patterns of health and illness as well as the affects of race, gender etc. on human health

Origins of Sociology:

• New industrial economy (working in farms on the middle ages → end of 18th century powers of steam/water to power machines. Changed from labouring at home to becoming part of labour force)
• Growth of cities (as cities grow migrants face many social problems such as crime, pollution and homelessness)
• Political change (growth of cities challenged traditional thinking. Writers such as Thomas Hobbes 1588-1679, John Locke 1632-1704 and Adam Smith 1723-1790. Shift from moral obligation to god → pursuit of self-interest
• New awareness of society

Science and Sociology:

• Auguste Comte (1798-1857) coined the term sociology in 1838
• Comte and other pioneers seek to understand how society actually operates
• Comte saw sociology as product of 3 stage historical development

1. Theological stage: from beginning of human history → end of European Middle Ages
2. Metaphysical stage: seeing society as natural not supernatural
3. Scientific stage: work of early scientists such as Copernicus and Galileo

• Comte’s approach is positivism: way of understanding based on science  (society operates according to its own laws)

Sociological Theory:

• Theory: a statement of how and why specific facts are related
• Theoretical approach: basic image of society that guides thinking and research

The Structural-Functional Approach:

• Macro-level: broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole

• Sees society as a complex system whose parts work together for solidarity & stability
• Social structure is any relatively stable pattern of social behaviour
• Looks for a structure’s social functions: consequences of any social pattern for the operation of society as a whole
• (Auguste Compte, Emilie Durkheim, Herbert Spencer)
• Spencer compared society to the human body, one part cannot function without other
• Merton expanded understanding by distinguishing different functions
• Manifest functions: recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern
• Latent functions: unrecognized and unintended consequences of any social pattern
• Social dysfunction: any social pattern that may disrupt operation of society

The Social-Conflict Approach:

• Macro-level: broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole
• Sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change
• Highlights inequality and change
• Look at conflict between dominant and disadvantaged categories of people
• Social patterns may benefit some and hurt others
• People who are dominant protect their power while those who are disadvantaged try to gain more
• Not just to understand society but to bring societal change
• Gender-conflict approach: focuses on inequality and conflict between men and women
• Feminism: support of social equality for women and men
• Race-conflict approach: focuses on inequality between people of different racial/ethnic categories

The Symbolic-Interaction Approach:

• Micro-level: close up focus on social interaction in specific situations
• Sees society as the product of everyday interactions of individuals
• Society is a shared reality that people construct through interaction with each other
• Reality is how we define our surroundings, obligation to others and our identities
• (Max Weber, George Hebert Mead, Erving Goffman)

The Postmodern Approach: