Introduction to Sociology

• Sociology is the study of society.
• It examines social issues & behavior patterns.
• It uncovers social structures & processes.
• Sociology identifies commonalities between cultures and societies.
• It understands and drives social change.
• Sociology provides theoretical perspectives & scientific methods.

Origins and Definition

• Sociology is based on the idea that human life is fundamentally social.
• Interactions constantly happen from birth to death.
• These interactions form complex social structures.
• Sociology studies these structures, their creation, change, and impact.
• The term "sociology" comes from Latin "socius" (companion) and Greek "logos" (study of).
• Sociology literally means “the study of companionship”.
• A broader definition is the scientific study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behaviors of social relationships.
• Key questions: What does sociology mean? Why is it important? How does it benefit individuals/society?

What Sociology Offers

• It uncovers social structures and processes often unnoticed, like a "mysterious fog" (Lemert, 2001).
• Sociology aims to reveal hidden influences and examine their function.
• It shapes perceptions, helps critically analyze messages, and influences beliefs/behaviors from different sources.
• Sociology enables questioning assumptions and recognizing roles in reinforcing/challenging societal norms.
• It recognizes diversity and commonalities among people.
• Sociology provides a crucial perspective by exploring shared social structures/processes.
• Its goal is the fostering the understanding and cooperation between groups rather than conflict.
• Sociology enables individuals to understand and explain societal transformations.
• Sociologists want to improve the human condition (Restivo, 1991).
• Sociology challenges common-sense assumptions.
• Those who prefer accepting conventional wisdom without question should "stay away from sociology" (Berger, 1963).
• Suicide is often perceived as primarily a psychological issue.
• Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) showed that social factors play a crucial role in suicide rates (Durkheim, 1966).
• Crime is frequently attributed to a specific "criminal element".
• Zimbardo's (1973) study on vandalism showed ordinary individuals engage in criminal acts under social conditions.
• Sociology equips tools to critically examine society, uncover hidden social forces, and shape the future.

Sociological Imagination

• The sociological imagination is a concept coined by C. Wright Mills (1916–1962).
• It emphasizes the connection between personal experiences and larger social forces.
• It enables individuals to understand historical and societal contexts.
• The sociological perspective examines structural/institutional influences on life outcomes.

Key Aspects of Sociological Imagination

• Individual lives are deeply influenced by historical/social structures.
• Personal troubles are individual problems like divorce, job loss, or debt.
• Public issues are societal problems that affect many, such as economic downturns, rising divorce rates, or inflation.
• Individual problems must be understood within larger social contexts.
• Industrialization changes livelihoods (peasants become workers).
• War impacts personal lives (store clerks become radar operators).
• Key Quote: "Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both."
• Single unemployment might be a result of work ethic/skills.
• Mass unemployment indicates societal factors like economic downturns or policy changes.
• Social norms, economic conditions, and cultural changes shape personal relationships.
• Rising divorce rates might indicate shifting gender roles, economic stress, or changing societal values.

Importance of Sociological Imagination

• Recognizing structural causes prevents victim-blaming.
• Understanding societal mechanisms allows individuals to work toward social reform.
• Encouraging critical thinking helps people question norms, policies, and systemic issues.
• Conclusion: The sociological imagination allows individuals to place personal experiences within a broader social context.
• People can better understand their role in society and work toward meaningful social change as a result of this.
• C. Wright Mills encourages critical thinking about the forces that shape lives, empowering people to influence history.

Debunking Sociology

• Debunking sociology suggests an ability to look below the surface of being taken for granted.
• It exposes a person or claim.
• Recording scientific observation is important.
• Science cannot depend on the imperfection of human memory.

The Origins of Sociology

• Sociology emerged through sweeping/rapid changes.
• The systematic study of society began in the late 1780s and 1800s
• Changes were brought on by the French Revolution in 1789.
• Changes were brought on by the Industrial Revolution in Europe.
• The use of science instead of religion was key to development.

Early Theorists

• Auguste Comte
• Emile Durkheim
• Karl Marx
• Max Weber

Auguste Comte

• Comte belonged to the functionalist school of thought.
• He sought to create a science of society.
• His goal was to explain the laws of the social world.
• Comte's vision was that of positive science.
• Sociology should apply scientific methods.
• Comte identified the law of three stages and human efforts passed through three stages.
• Societies should be analysed as organisms.
• Theological/religious stage: thoughts were guided by religious ideas and society was an expression of God’s will.
• Metaphysical stage of investigation: Came during the period of rennaissance, involved the justification of universal rights.
• Positive stage: Society being seen in natural not supernatural terms and started reasoning/questioning.
• Came into existence by the discoveries/achievements of Copernicus, Galileo, and Sir Isaac Newton.
• This stage encouraged the application of science to the social world.
• Comte regarded sociology as the last science to develop.
• He considered sociology as the most significant and complex science.

Karl Marx

• Marx belonged to the conflict school of thought.
• His view was grounded on the concept of history.
• Ideas and values are not the sources of social change, materialist conception.
• Social change influenced by economic factors.
• Conflict between classes result in historical development.
• Conflicts are the motors of history.
• Social systems transitioned from one mode of production to another (primitive communal society or hunters and gatherers, slavery, feudalism, and capitalism).
• All existing society would be class struggles, divided into a small class that monopolized economic and political power.
• The large mass of people benefit little from the wealth their work creates.
• Karl Marx believed that society is split into the haves (capitalists) and have-nots (proletariat).
• Class antagonisms/active hostilities revolved around struggles between the capitalists.
• Wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few capitalists.
• Workers would resist but depend on capitalists for jobs.
• Marx predicted bloody revolution and alienation.
• Alienation: The feeling of separation from one's group or society.
• Workers feel alienated because they don't own or control either the means of production or the product.
• The major focus for capitalists is on increasing profits.

Emile Durkheim

• Emile Durkheim agreed with Comte that societies are characterized by unity and cohesion.
• Societal members bond by common interests and attitudes.
• Emile Durkheim's first principle of sociology was to study social facts as things.
• Sociology must pursue the analysis of social institutions and human social behavior.
• The concern of sociology is the study of social facts.
• Social facts shape actions and are a way of thinking, acting, or feeling.
• They are external to individuals, exercising coercive power over them.
• Suicide is purely a personal act.
• Four types of suicide: egoistic, altruistic, anomic and fatalistic.
• Egoistic: When individuals are weakly attached to others, they account for less resistance to suicide.
• Altruistic: People commit suicide on behalf and for the sake of the group they love more than themselves.
• Anomic: Describes the ties attaching the individual to the group becoming disrupted.
• Fatalistic: Individuals sees their futures as permanently blocked.
• Suicide is an outcome of extremely personal unhappiness.
• Social factors exert influence on suicidal behavior.
• Concern in social and moral solidarity.

Max Weber

• Weber rejected the materialist conception of history.
• Weber thought ideas and values have an impact on social change.
• Sociology should focus on social action, not structures.
• Ideas, values, and beliefs had the power to bring about transformations.
• Cultural ideas and values shape society and individual actions.
• Ideal Types: Conceptual and analytical models are used to interpret the world.
• Development of science, modern technology and bureaucracy constitute efficiency and technical knowledge.
• Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism were trends towards rationalization.
• Capitalism is not dominated by class conflict, but by the rise of science and bureaucracy (organizing large numbers of people effectively).
• Value-free sociology: A researcher who separates their personal values, opinions, ideology, and beliefs from scientific research.

Three Major Theories in Sociology

• Functionalism
• Radical theory (Marxist)
• Symbolic interactionism

Functionalism

• Functionalism sees society as a complex system with various parts producing stability and solidarity.
• Comte and Durkheim used an organic analogy, comparing society's operation to that of a living organism.
• Parts of society work together.
• Moral consensus stresses the importance of maintaining order in society.
• Order and balance is the normal state of society.
• Religion reaffirms adherence to core social values.
• This contributes to maintenance of social cohesion.

Conflict

• It rejects functionalisms' emphasis on consensus
• Highlights the importance of devisions in society.
• Society isnt coorperative and harmonious.
• Issues of power inequality and struggle.
• Society is composed of different groups pursuing their own interests.
• The existence of separate interests leads to potential conflict.
• Conflict theorists examine tensions between dominant and disadvantaged groups.

Symbolic Interactionism

• Roots can be traced from the works of George Herbert Mead.
• Human mind and self arise in the process of social communication.
• Social communication stems from human mind and self.
• People interpret and define each other’s actions through symbols.
• Symbols are interpreted through the use of language and meaning.
• Symbol is something that stands for something else.
• It focuses on how people interact in their everyday lives.
• Symbolic interactionism focuses on face-to-face interaction.

Levels of Analysis

• Microsociology is the study of everyday behavior in situations of face-to-face interaction.
• It focuses on individuals in society.
• Macro sociology is the analysis of large scale social systems (political systems, economic order).