Sociologists and Their Contributions

Vocabulary

• Society: A large group of people who share territory and institutions.
• Culture: The system of behaviours, beliefs, values, and materials that shape society.
• Dominant culture: A culture that imposes values through political or economic power.
• Example: Media focusing on wealth, status, and fashion.
• Countercultures: Groups who reject the dominant culture.
• Subcultures: Groups that differ from the dominant culture without actively opposing it.
• Example: Lawyers versus plumbers.
• High culture: Elite appreciation for opera, classical literature.
• Popular culture: Mass appeal for rap, pop music, novels.
• Blending: Combines high and popular culture in events like live orchestras with movie screenings.
• Agency: An individual's ability to make decisions.
• Sociologists: People who study society.

Durkheim vs. Rousseau on Human Nature

• Rousseau imagined humans in a "primitive state" as happy, free from societal corruption, without interaction or language.
• Durkheim disagreed, arguing that society is essential for humanity's existence.

Melvin Kohn's Study

• Kohn (1959) studied how parents' social class influenced their children's values.
• 400 families (half working-class, half middle-class) were examined.
• Findings: Middle-class mothers emphasized internal traits (empathy, curiosity), while working-class mothers prioritized conformity.
• Gender expectations varied across classes, influencing career paths.

Symbolic Interactionists

• Blumer (1969) proposed three premises: Humans act based on meanings, meaning arises from social interaction, and meanings are interpreted and modified through interactions.
• Mead's Role-Taking Theory:
• Preparatory Stage: Mimicking significant others.
• Role-Taking Stage: Pretend play representing roles.
• Game Stage: Learning complex roles and rules.
• Generalized Other: Understanding societal expectations.
• Cooley's Looking-Glass Self: Self-concept is shaped by how we believe others perceive us. This involves three steps: imagining how others see us; interpreting their judgments; and developing a self-image based these perceptions.

Social Construction of Knowledge

• Berger & Luckmann (1966) posit that knowledge isn't discovered but created through social interactions.
• Societal norms, interactions, institutions create what we consider "real."
• Categorization: Experiences are categorized; people act based on these categories.
• Internalization/Objectivation: Social origins/origins are forgotten, viewed as natural and unchanging (e.g., eating disorders from a false body image perception).

Notable Early Female Sociologists

• Harriet Martineau (1802-1876): Translated Comte's work, wrote on slavery and gender inequality.
• Jane Addams (1860–1935): Founded Hull House, campaigned for social reform, and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.

Social Inequality

• Social Inequality: A gap between advantaged and disadvantaged groups affecting rights and opportunities, impacting choices, rewards, and privileges.
• Social Institutions: Norms, values, and rules shaping social interactions (e.g., family, education, economy).
• Social Change: Study of societal and institutional transformations over time (e.g., secularization).

CH. 1 SUMMARY

• Overview: Social institutions establish norms, values, and rules shaping social interactions; maintaining societal functions, facilitating social change, and contributing to social inequality.
• Functionality: Maintain social order and stability, provide frameworks for social behavior and interaction.
• Social Change: Act as potential reform and transformation sites.
• Standardization: Institutions create predictable behaviors, and actions become structured over time.

Connection to Society and Personal Troubles vs Public Issues

• Societal structures influence individual lives.
• Personal troubles: Individual challenges (e.g., losing a job) affecting one's life.
• Public issues: Collective problems (e.g., unemployment) impacting large groups demanding societal solutions.

Social Change

• Social change involves considerable alterations in society, cultural norms, and values over time.
• Secularization: religion's loss of authority over individuals and social life.

Socialization

• Anticipatory Socialization: Preparing for future roles.
• Primary Socialization: Occurs in early childhood; learning through observation and imitation, established foundational behaviors such as conversation.
• Secondary Socialization: Learning social behaviors within subcultures in larger society (e.g., adapting to a sports team).
• Role Exit: Learning new norms and values for a different role while simultaneously transitioning between different roles in life situations (e.g., disengaging from a job).
• Resocialization: Replacing old behaviors and values with new ones (e.g., religious conversion).
• Agents of Socialization: Forces shaping individuals' beliefs, behaviours, identities (e.g., family, peers, education).

Deviance, Law, and Crime

• Social Construction of Knowledge: Knowledge is not discovered but rather constructed (Berger & Luckmann, 1966).
• Reality socially constructed: Societal norms, interactions, and institutions shape what's perceived as "real."
• Types of Deviance: Minor, lesser crimes, consensus, white-collar crimes.
• Strain Theory (Merton): Suggests that deviance occurs when societal goals aren't matched with opportunities.
• Subcultural Theory: Some subcultures adopt values and norms that differ from mainstream society.
• Learning Theory (Sutherland): Crime can be learned through interaction.
• Control Theory (Hirschi): Weak social bonds correlate with crime.
• Labeling Theory (Becker): Labelling someone as deviant reinforces criminal behavior.
• Durkheim's Functionalist view: Deviance affirms norms (right/wrong); strengthens social unity, encourages social change, creates employment opportunities.

The Power of the Situation

• Milgram Experiment (1963): Obedience to authority; individuals can be influenced to obey authority by social forces.
• Stanford Prison Experiment (1971): Power and role-playing; individuals conform to assigned roles (e.g., guards, prisoners), highlighting the influence of situational forces.

Social Inequality and Social Class

• Feudalism: Hierarchical, land-based social system.
• Capitalism: An economic system based on private ownership, free markets, and profit-seeking.
• Neoliberalism: A modern form of capitalism emphasizing deregulation, privatization, and free trade.
• Socialism: Ownership and control of production by the community, seeking social equality. Key Theorist= Karl Marx.
• Social Stratification: The division of society into hierarchical layers based on wealth, power, and prestige.
• Achievement vs. Ascription: Achieving social status through effort or based on birth status respectively.

Income Inequality

• Relative poverty: Inability to uphold society's average standard of living.
• Absolute poverty: Lacking basic necessities for survival.
• Neoliberalism: Increased inequality through free market policies, deregulation, and privatization.

Additional Topics:

• Rosenhan's "On Being Sane in Insane Places".
• The Great Confinement: The historical shift in how societies perceived madness, moving from integration to confinement.
• Sociological Imagination: The ability to see connections between individual experiences and broader societal forces.

Test your knowledge of notable sociologists and their influential contributions to the field. Questions cover key figures from Auguste Comte to Durkheim, focusing on their theories, works, and impact on sociology. Perfect for students and enthusiasts looking to deepen their understanding of sociological history.