Sociology

• Sociology


  The systematic study of society
• Sociology


  • Studies human society and social interactions
  • Concerned with the interactions of humans and the meaning they attach to these interactions
• Auguste Comte


  The French philosopher who coined the term "sociology" in 1838
• Auguste Comte's view of sociology


  • The scientific study of society
  • All societies develop and progress through three stages: religious, metaphysical, and scientific
• Importance of sociology


  • Allows for the investigation of the influence of social forces on human behaviours
  • Helps the individual to understand human society and how social systems, structures and institutions work
  • Looks beyond common sense to understand human actions and interactions
  • Allows for critical thinking about social issues and problems
• Forefathers of sociology


  • Emile Durkheim
  • Karl Marx
  • Max Weber
• Auguste Comte's contributions


  • Coined the term of sociology
  • Developed positivism
  • Paved the way for the functionalist perspective
• Emile Durkheim's contributions


  • Developed the consensus perspective (functionalism)
  • Relied on positivism
  • Became the first sociologists to employ science in the study of society
  • Used science to study Suicide
  • Employed the Macro approach
• Karl Marx's contributions


  • Father of Marxism -Conflict perspective
  • Developed the concept of Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat
  • Considered the economic changes in society caused by the Industrial Revolution
  • Expanded on the problems caused by capitalism
  • Used the macro approach
• Max Weber's contributions


  • Relied on the economic views of Marx but developed the Interactionism perspective
  • Did not agree with positivism
  • Formed the view that interaction and meaning attached to things are of importance
  • Used the micro approach
  • Did not agree that social institutions shape people, instead it is people who shape social institutions
  • Focused a great deal on social change
• Development of sociology in the Caribbean


  • Influenced by the history of the region
  • Influenced by major sociological perspectives such as functionalism, Marxism and Interactionism
  • Influenced by the economic changes of the Caribbean
  • Influenced by political reforms in the region
  • Influenced by the work of pioneers in the field
• Major Caribbean theorists


  • M.G. Smith - The Plural Society Thesis
  • Kamau Braithwaite - The Creole Society Thesis
  • Edith Clarke - The Development of Afro-Caribbean families
  • Lloyd Braithwaite - The Stratification System in the Caribbean
  • Dereck Gordon - Social Stratification and Social Mobility in Jamaica
  • Carl Stone - The Class Society
  • Raymond Smith - The Impact of Plantation Slavery on Family

  
• Sociological Imagination


  • The ability to shift from one perspective to another
  • The ability to see things socially and how they interact and influence each other
  • The ability to see the relationship between individual experiences and the larger society
• Sociological perspective


  • Invites sociologists to look at familiar surroundings in a fresh way
  • Emphasizes that our social backgrounds influence our attitudes, behaviours, and life chances
• Major sociological perspectives


  • Functionalist
  • Conflict/Marxist
  • Interactionist
• Functionalism


  • Known as a macro perspective/theory
  • Also called a structural theory
  • Operates on the belief that society is like a human body made up of interrelated organs, each with its own purpose (function)
  • All organs are interdependent and must perform their function for the body (society) to exist
  • Each institution must perform its function in tandem with the other institutions for a stable society
  • Provides society with functional prerequisites like value consensus
• Durkheim's types of solidarity


  • Mechanical Solidarity - Unity sprung from similarity
  • Organic Solidarity - Unity sprung from interdependence
• Merton's latent and manifest functions


  • Latent function of stratification and the collective goals is crime, as those who can't succeed in "legitimate activities" will turn to crime
• Parsons' AGIL model


  • Adaptation - The problem of acquiring sufficient resources for human survival
  • Goal Attainment - The problem of settling and implementing goals
  • Integration - The problem of maintaining solidarity, stability or coordination among the sub-units or sub-groups of the system
  • Latency - The problem of creating, preserving, and transmitting the system's distinctive culture and values
• Criticisms of functionalism


  • Ignores the conflicts that exist in society
  • Takes it for granted that all institutions are functional
  • Gives no account for dysfunctional institutions
  • Overly deterministic, gives little relevance to human free will
• Marxism/Conflict perspective


  • A historic-macro theory that looks to history for proof of its views
  • Argues that throughout history there has always existed two groups, the rich who own the means of production and control the superstructure, and the poor who only own their labour
  • Contends that the capitalist era is characterized by a dialectic relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, where the bourgeoisie exploit the proletariat
  • Argues that the proletariat will one day see the fallacies of the false class consciousness and join together in a bloody revolution against the bourgeoisie, leading to a new economic era called Communism
• Criticisms of Marxism


  • Utopian view of the future
  • Economically deterministic, ignores individual's ability to make choices and the impact of gender and patriarchal relationships
  • No evidence that religion will disappear
• Communism


  A new economic era where all men are equal, hence there will be no exploitive social relationships, no conflict to cause a revolution and so this era will last forever
• Many critics argue that the Marxists have a utopian view of the future, as they predict a communist era where all men are equal
• Theorists such as Thomas Hobbes argue that man is too selfish for any such era to be a reality
• Marx is said to be economically deterministic as he sees the nature of the economy determining all other institutions (the superstructure) and social relationships
• Marx ignores the individual's ability to make his own choices according to the interactionist, and the impact of gender and patriarchal relationships according to the feminists
• Marx argues that the proletariat revolution will result from the destruction of the false class consciousness, and the disappearance of religion
• Critics argue that there is no evidence that religion that has been around since the beginning of time will disappear, and if it doesn't, then the false class consciousness will continue to be promoted hence no revolution will take place
• Symbolic interactionism


  Individuals place meanings on objects in society and these meanings determine their behaviour
• Interaction between individuals


  Only possible when the meanings of the symbols are shared
• Self


  Has two parts - the "I" (our own beliefs about who we are, or our natural self) and the "me" (what we are socialized to be)
• "Me"


  The socialized self that stems from our interaction with the "generalized other" (society)
• Play and Game stages


  Through playing games children learn that there are different roles they have to play at different times, even if they don't want to. They learn that society has certain expectations of them which they have to fill if they want to be accepted
• Principles of symbolic interactionism


  • Ascribed meanings: Human action is based on the meanings ascribed to objects
  • Communication: The meanings we place on symbols are due to our interaction with others
  • Interpretation: Before we act, we seek to interpret the symbols before us
• Ethnomethodology


  Reality and social order is a cognitive construction i.e., it is done in the mind
• Individuals make sense of society


  According to a set of un-written rules to which they subscribe, the documentary method
• Two persons can be in the same situation and behave differently because their cognitive processes and consequent interpretation of the situation are different
• Interactionism


  Focuses on individual interaction instead of society on the whole. It is therefore called a micro-theory
• Human behaviour is not determined by society or social systems, instead it is dependent on human interactions, the meanings we allocate to the actions of others and the situations in which we find ourselves