Sociology Chapter 1: Seeing and Acting Through the Lens of Sociology
Sociology: The systematic study of human society and social interaction
Common Sense Knowledge: That which guides ordinary conduct in everyday life
Why Study Sociology?
- Systematic knowledge: Because it uses both theory and research methods
- A theory is a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and
(occasionally) predict social events
- Using sociological inquiry helps us to see new ways of viewing our world
- The discipline assists us in seeing patterns of social relationships
- It assists us to understand ourselves and our social world such as: family life, sexual assault,
homelessness, AIDS, violence and the like
- C. Wright Mills (1916-1962): The Sociological Imagination- “the ability to see the relationship
between individual experiences and the larger society”
Origins of Sociological Thinking
- Classic origins go back to Ionic beginnings
- Aristotle and Plato
- The growth of the natural sciences in the 17th018th centuries set the pace of how science can be
applied to society: to consider that society is an orderly, self-regulating system
Sociology and Revolution, Industrialization, and Urbanization
- Revolution: Changes of intellectual and political structures
- Industrialization: Changes of means of production or how people make a living
- Urbanization: Movement from the rural to the urban environments
Early Thinkers and Social Order and Stability
Auguste Comte (1798-1857) → Father of Sociology
- Origins of the term sociology (sociology = study of society)
- Statics and dynamics
- Natural science applied to society
- Povitism: Application of scientific method to study social phenomenon
- Stages of societal development
,Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
- Used Comte’s work
- Studied religion, politics, childrearing, slavery, immigration in categories of race, class and
gender
- Sociology: True science of human nature
- Call for equality of women
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
- Society evolving as organic species
- Process of struggle
- Social Darwinism as key concept
Social Darwinism
- The belief that those species of animals (including humans) best adapted to their environment
survive and prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die out
- Used to justify the repression and neglect of minority groups such as African Americans in the
late 19th century and beyond
Emile Durkeim (1858-1917)
- Created a methodology of studying society
- Social facts - we are governed by uncontrolled social factors that control our behaviour (not
looking at people in elevator)
- Anomie: lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group
- Division of labour
- First to publish a statistical study (on suicide, not individual but social problem)
,Differing Views on the Status Quo: Stability vs Change
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
- Class conflict as the source of change
- Bourgeoisie and proletariat
- Mean of production
- Alienation
- Revolution
Max Weber (1864-1920)
- Argued economic systems is only one source of change
- Famous “Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”
- Value free sociology
- Study bureaucracies
George Simmel
- Society as a web of patterned interactions
- Focus of sociology: social interaction in groups
- Interaction conditioned by size: dyads, triads etc
Development in North America
USA
- First department at the University of CHicago in 1892
- Central scholars: Robert Park (1864-1944); George H. Mead (1863-1931): Founder of symbolic
interaction perspective
- Jane Addams (1860-1935): Well known woman scholar, published “Hull House,” charter member
of the American Sociological Society
- W.E.B. Du Boid (1868-1963, African American)
- Classic study of Philadelphia's African American community
, Canada
- 1925 at McGill University: Model after the Chicago School of Sociology
- 1963 at University of Toronto: Focus on the political and economic history of Canada
- Foundation of the Canadian Review of Sociology in 1965
- The 1970s sees the Candianization of sociology with foci such as regionalism, ethnic
relationships, multiculturalism, social class, race, and gender
- A classic of Canadian sociology was the Vertical Mosaic by John Porter (1965)
- First major female sociologist:
- Patricia Marchak who published Ideological Perspectives on Canadian Society (1975)
Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives
- Functionalist Perspective
- Assumption: Society is a stable, orderly system; members share a common set of values,
beliefs, and behavioural expectations
- Society as parts to a whole with each part having a function or role to play
- Society is like a living organism → every part has a role
- Talcott Parsons (1902-1979)
- All societies must make provisions for meeting social needs in order to survive
- Division of labour necessary for this survival
- Instrumental and expressive roles necessary also for this survival
- R.K. Merton (1910-2003)
- Manifest (intended, i.e. schools are to distribute knowledge) and Latent
(unintended, i.e. schools create social classes) Functions
- Dysfunctions (negative, i.e. schools may cause people to fail exams and school
then lead them on a bad path) as well as functions
- Applying a functionalist perspective to the study of suicide
- Durkheim’s famous empirical study of suicide - suicide is the result of social rather than
personal factors where there is no or little shared sense in community, suicide rates will
be higher
- Canadian examples among some Indigenous Communities
- Suicide rates among Indigenous Candians is higher than among other Canadians. Why?
- Destruction of pre-European Indigenous communities
- Years of colonial oppression - destroyed families and communities
- Child neglect and abuse in Residential Schools
- Conflict Perspective
- Assumption: Groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of
scarce resources. Can’t eliminate conflict, we can only mitigate it
- Key classical figures: Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel
- Applying a Conflict Perspective to the Study of Suicide Social Class and Race
- Two Roots or Factors of Suicide in Canada
- Social Class: Young people from low income or working class background. Few
opportunities for a successful life. Feel they are the most powerless
Sociology: The systematic study of human society and social interaction
Common Sense Knowledge: That which guides ordinary conduct in everyday life
Why Study Sociology?
- Systematic knowledge: Because it uses both theory and research methods
- A theory is a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and
(occasionally) predict social events
- Using sociological inquiry helps us to see new ways of viewing our world
- The discipline assists us in seeing patterns of social relationships
- It assists us to understand ourselves and our social world such as: family life, sexual assault,
homelessness, AIDS, violence and the like
- C. Wright Mills (1916-1962): The Sociological Imagination- “the ability to see the relationship
between individual experiences and the larger society”
Origins of Sociological Thinking
- Classic origins go back to Ionic beginnings
- Aristotle and Plato
- The growth of the natural sciences in the 17th018th centuries set the pace of how science can be
applied to society: to consider that society is an orderly, self-regulating system
Sociology and Revolution, Industrialization, and Urbanization
- Revolution: Changes of intellectual and political structures
- Industrialization: Changes of means of production or how people make a living
- Urbanization: Movement from the rural to the urban environments
Early Thinkers and Social Order and Stability
Auguste Comte (1798-1857) → Father of Sociology
- Origins of the term sociology (sociology = study of society)
- Statics and dynamics
- Natural science applied to society
- Povitism: Application of scientific method to study social phenomenon
- Stages of societal development
,Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
- Used Comte’s work
- Studied religion, politics, childrearing, slavery, immigration in categories of race, class and
gender
- Sociology: True science of human nature
- Call for equality of women
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
- Society evolving as organic species
- Process of struggle
- Social Darwinism as key concept
Social Darwinism
- The belief that those species of animals (including humans) best adapted to their environment
survive and prosper, whereas those poorly adapted die out
- Used to justify the repression and neglect of minority groups such as African Americans in the
late 19th century and beyond
Emile Durkeim (1858-1917)
- Created a methodology of studying society
- Social facts - we are governed by uncontrolled social factors that control our behaviour (not
looking at people in elevator)
- Anomie: lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group
- Division of labour
- First to publish a statistical study (on suicide, not individual but social problem)
,Differing Views on the Status Quo: Stability vs Change
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
- Class conflict as the source of change
- Bourgeoisie and proletariat
- Mean of production
- Alienation
- Revolution
Max Weber (1864-1920)
- Argued economic systems is only one source of change
- Famous “Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”
- Value free sociology
- Study bureaucracies
George Simmel
- Society as a web of patterned interactions
- Focus of sociology: social interaction in groups
- Interaction conditioned by size: dyads, triads etc
Development in North America
USA
- First department at the University of CHicago in 1892
- Central scholars: Robert Park (1864-1944); George H. Mead (1863-1931): Founder of symbolic
interaction perspective
- Jane Addams (1860-1935): Well known woman scholar, published “Hull House,” charter member
of the American Sociological Society
- W.E.B. Du Boid (1868-1963, African American)
- Classic study of Philadelphia's African American community
, Canada
- 1925 at McGill University: Model after the Chicago School of Sociology
- 1963 at University of Toronto: Focus on the political and economic history of Canada
- Foundation of the Canadian Review of Sociology in 1965
- The 1970s sees the Candianization of sociology with foci such as regionalism, ethnic
relationships, multiculturalism, social class, race, and gender
- A classic of Canadian sociology was the Vertical Mosaic by John Porter (1965)
- First major female sociologist:
- Patricia Marchak who published Ideological Perspectives on Canadian Society (1975)
Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives
- Functionalist Perspective
- Assumption: Society is a stable, orderly system; members share a common set of values,
beliefs, and behavioural expectations
- Society as parts to a whole with each part having a function or role to play
- Society is like a living organism → every part has a role
- Talcott Parsons (1902-1979)
- All societies must make provisions for meeting social needs in order to survive
- Division of labour necessary for this survival
- Instrumental and expressive roles necessary also for this survival
- R.K. Merton (1910-2003)
- Manifest (intended, i.e. schools are to distribute knowledge) and Latent
(unintended, i.e. schools create social classes) Functions
- Dysfunctions (negative, i.e. schools may cause people to fail exams and school
then lead them on a bad path) as well as functions
- Applying a functionalist perspective to the study of suicide
- Durkheim’s famous empirical study of suicide - suicide is the result of social rather than
personal factors where there is no or little shared sense in community, suicide rates will
be higher
- Canadian examples among some Indigenous Communities
- Suicide rates among Indigenous Candians is higher than among other Canadians. Why?
- Destruction of pre-European Indigenous communities
- Years of colonial oppression - destroyed families and communities
- Child neglect and abuse in Residential Schools
- Conflict Perspective
- Assumption: Groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of
scarce resources. Can’t eliminate conflict, we can only mitigate it
- Key classical figures: Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel
- Applying a Conflict Perspective to the Study of Suicide Social Class and Race
- Two Roots or Factors of Suicide in Canada
- Social Class: Young people from low income or working class background. Few
opportunities for a successful life. Feel they are the most powerless
