UCSP

• Social group


  An organized, interrelated group of people who act together for collective living, as they share the same language, territory, and culture
• Sociological theories or perspectives

  • Structural Functionalism
  • Conflict Theory
  • Symbolic Interactionism
• Structural Functionalism


  • Sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society
  • Grew out of the writings of Herbert Spencer, who saw similarities between society and the human body
  • The parts of society are the social institutions, or patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs, such as government, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the economy
• Émile Durkheim's view on Structural Functionalism


  • Applied Spencer's theory to explain how societies change and survive over time
  • Believed that society is a complex system of interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability
  • Believed that society is held together by shared values, languages, and symbols
  • Believed that individuals may make up society, but in order to study society, sociologists have to look beyond individuals to social facts
• Durkheim's study on suicide


  • Studied social ties within a group, or social solidarity, and hypothesized that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religion-based differences
  • Gathered a large amount of data about Europeans who had ended their lives, and found that Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics
• A group of individuals in a certain place does not instantly make a social group. This group may just be individuals who happen to be in one place asserting their commonality. Simply stated, when human relation begins, a group starts to be organized.
• Social groups are fundamental parts of human life. They are a multitude of people who see each other often and think of themselves as part of a group.
• The discipline of Sociology focuses primarily on the study of social groups in a society.
• Social facts


  The laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life
• Functions of social facts

  • Protect society from violence
  • Punish criminal behavior
  • Preserve public safety
• Suicide


  An individual phenomenon that can be explained by social factors
• Émile Durkheim's study of suicide

  • Studied social ties within a group, or social solidarity
  • Hypothesized that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religion-based differences
• Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics in Durkheim's society
• Manifest functions


  The consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated
• Latent functions


  The unsought consequences of a social process
• Manifest functions of college education

  • Gaining knowledge
  • Preparing for a career
  • Finding a good job
• Latent functions of college education

  • Meeting new people
  • Participating in extracurricular activities
  • Finding a spouse or partner
• Dysfunctions


  Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society
• Dysfunctions in education


  • Getting bad grades
  • Truancy
  • Dropping out
  • Not graduating
  • Not finding suitable employment
• Conflict theory


  Looks at society as a competition for limited resources
• Karl Marx's view of society

  • Made up of two classes: the bourgeoisie (capitalist) and the proletariat (workers)
  • The bourgeoisie owns and controls the means of production, leading to exploitation due to the profit motive
  • Proletarians have only their labor to sell and do not own or control capital
• False consciousness


  The proletarian's inability to see their real position within the class system, complicated by the control the bourgeoisie often exerts over the media
• Max Weber's view


  • In addition to economic inequalities, there were inequalities of political power and social structure that caused conflict
  • Different groups were affected differently based on education, race, and gender
  • People's reactions to inequality were moderated by class differences and rates of social mobility, as well as by perceptions about the legitimacy of those in power
• Ida B. Wells theorized a connection between an increase in lynching and an increase in black socio-economic mobility in the United States from the late 1800s into the mid-20th century
• Ida B. Wells examined competition within the feminist movement as women fought for the right to vote, with the mainstream suffragist movements headed by white women who excluded black women from suffrage
• W.E.B. DuBois examined race in the U.S. and in U.S. colonies from a conflict perspective, and emphasized the importance of a reserve labor force, made up of black men
• Symbolic Interactionist Theory


  A micro-level theory that focuses on meanings attached to human interaction, both verbal and non-verbal, and to symbols
• Looking-glass self


  A person's sense of self grows out of interactions with others, through a threefold process: 1) we see how others react to us, 2) we interpret that reaction, and 3) we develop a sense of self based on those interpretations
• George Herbert Mead's contribution to symbolic interactionism

  • Humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those things
  • The ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and society
  • The meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances
• Dramaturgical analysis


  A technique developed by Erving Goffman that uses theater as an analogy for social interaction, recognizing that people's interactions show patterns of cultural "scripts"
• Group


  Any collection of people who interact on the basis of shared expectations regarding one another's behavior
• Examples of groups


  • Family
  • Relatives
  • Couples
  • Friends
  • Church mates
  • Schoolmates
  • Co-workers
  • Business
  • Neighborhood
  • Organization
  • Team mates
  • Clubs
• Requirements for a group

  • There must be two or more people
  • There must be interaction
  • The members must be together physically
• Factors that influence groups

  • Motivational base shared by individuals
  • Size of the group
  • Type of group goals
  • The kind of group cohesion/unity
• Characteristics of a group

  • Has an identity identifiable by both members and outsiders
  • Has a social structure with each member having a position related to other positions
  • Each member has roles to play
  • There is mutual reciprocity among members
• Groups distinguished from other collections of people

  • Aggregate
  • Category
  • Collectivity
• Importance of a group

  • Source of solidarity and cohesion
  • Reinforces and strengthens integration into society
  • Shares basic survival and problem-solving techniques
  • Gives meaning and support to individuals
• How a group is formed

  • Desire to achieve an objective
  • To meet the needs of the individual member
  • People are treated alike by others
• Classification of groups


  • Primary groups
  • Secondary groups
• In-group


  A group with which the individual identifies and which gives them a sense of belonging, solidarity, camaraderie, esprit de corps, and a protective attitude toward the other members