chapter 1 the sociological perspective. what is sociology? sociology is the scientific study of...

Chapter 1

The Sociological

Perspective

What Is Sociology?

• Sociology is the scientific study of human society.

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What is the Sociological Perspective?

• The sociological perspective is when you look for general patterns in the behavior of people.

or

• You look for the strange in the familiar.

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Sociological Perspective - Examples

• Society shapes what we think and do. For example:

– MarriageoWho do we marry?oWhy do we marry?oWhen do we marry?

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Sociological Perspective - Examples

• Families

– When do have kids?– How many children should you have?

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Sociological Perspective

• Sociological Imagination is turning personal problems into public issues.

• For example: Poverty

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Sociological Perspective

• Social change encourages sociological thinking, sociological thinking can bring about social change

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Global Perspective

• Global perspective is defined as the study of the larger world and our society’s place in it.

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Global Perspective

• Different Nations in the World– High Income Countries (72)– Middle Income Countries (70)– Low Income Countries (53)

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Global Perspective

• Global thinking is an important component of the Sociological Perspective because:– Where we live shapes our lives– Societies are increasingly interconnected– Problems faced in the United States are far

more serious in other countries– Helps us learn more about ourselves

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Origins of Sociology

• Sociology is a relatively new field of study in the social sciences (i.e. history, economics, political science, psychology)

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Origins of Sociology

• Three major social changes during the 17th and 18th centuries led to the development of sociology:– Industrial Revolution– Emergence of large, thriving cities in Europe– French and American Revolutions

• Promoted individual liberty and rights

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Origins of Sociology

• The French Revolution symbolized the dramatic break with political and social tradition

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Origins of Sociology - Founder

• August Comte (French Philosopher)– Positivism – a way to understanding based on

science

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Origins of Sociology - Comte

• Comte saw sociology as the product of a 3-stage historical development:– Theological Stage (Beginning of History to

1350 C.E.)– Metaphysical Stage (1588-1679)– Scientific Stage (1679 to Present)

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Sociological Theory

• Theory is a statement of how and why specific facts are related.– How to explain social behavior in the real

world

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Sociological Theory

• Three theoretical approaches to Sociology:– Structural-Functional Approach– Social-Conflict Approach– Symbolic-Interaction Approach

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Structural-Functional Approach

• Society is guided by social structures (relatively stable patterns of social behavior)

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Structural-Functional Approach

• Each social structure has social functions, or consequences, for the operation of society as a whole.

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Structural Functional Approach

• Key Figures:– Auguste Comte– Emile Durkheim– Herbert Spencer

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Structural Functional Approach• Robert Merton

Manifest Functions are recognized and intended consequences

Latent Functions are unrecognized and unintended consequences

Social Dysfunctions are undesirable consequences

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Structural Functional Approach

• Critical review: The influence of this approach has declined recently

• It focuses on stability

• It ignores inequalities such as social class, race, and gender

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Social Conflict Approach

• Sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change

• Society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the expense of the majority

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Social Conflict Approach

• Factors such as race, sex, class, and age are linked to social inequality

• Dominant group vs. disadvantaged group relations

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Social Conflict Approach

• Key Figures – Karl Marx

• The importance of social class in inequality and social conflict

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Social Conflict Approach

Feminism and the Gender Conflict Approach

•A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men

•The advocacy of social equality for women and men

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Social Conflict Approach

• Key Figures

• Harriet Martineau

• Jane Addams – Hull House in Chicago

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Social Conflict Approach

Race Conflict Approach

•Point of view focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial or ethnic categories

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Social Conflict Approach

Key Figures

• W.E.B. Dubois

•He believed that race was the major problem facing the United States in the 20th Century.

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Social Conflict Approach

• Critical Review– Popular but has several weaknesses

• It ignores unity based on mutual interdependence and shared values

• It cannot claim scientific objectivity• It views society in terms of broad abstractions

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Symbolic-Interaction Approach

• The basics– A micro-level orientation, a close-up focus on

social interactions in specific situations – Views society as the product of everyday

interactions of individuals

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• Key elements – Society is a shared reality that people

construct as they interact with one another– Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic

of subjective meanings

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Symbolic-Interaction Approach

Who’s Who in the Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm

• Max Weber– Understanding a setting from the people in it

• George Herbert Mead– How we build personalities from social

experience

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Who’s Who in the Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm

• Erving Goffman– Dramaturgical analysis

• George Homans & Peter Blau– Social-exchange analysis

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Critical Evaluation

• Structural-Functional– Too broad– Ignores inequalities of social class, race &

gender– Focuses on stability at the expense of conflict

• Social-Conflict– Too broad

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Critical Evaluation

– Ignores how shared values and mutual interdependence unify society

– Pursues political goals

• Symbolic-Interaction– Ignores larger social structures, effects of

culture, factors such as class, gender & race

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Applying the Approaches: The Sociology of Sports

• The Functions of Sports– A structural-functional approach directs our

attention to ways sports help society operate– Sports have functional and dysfunctional

consequences

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Sports and Conflict

• Social-conflict analysis points out games people play reflect their social standing

• Sports have been oriented mostly toward males

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Sports and Conflict

• Big league sports excluded people of color for decades

• Sports in the United States are bound up with inequalities based on – Gender, race, and economic power

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Sports as Interaction

• Following symbolic-interaction approach: – Sports are less a system than an ongoing

process

• Structural-functional, social-conflict, and symbolic-interaction:– Provide different insights into sports. – No one is more correct than the others

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