Sociology: Founders and Perspectives

Chapter 1

• Jane Addams and Ida B. Wells-Barnett are considered mothers of sociology.
• W.E.B. Du Bois is considered the black father of sociology.
• Sociology studies groups of people, how they interact, and how these interactions change over time.
• The sociological perspective suggests society shapes individuals.
• The sociological imagination connects personal experiences to broader historical and social contexts. In other words, your life is the intersection of history and biography.
• C. Wright Mills was a sociologist who wrote about the sociological imagination.
• Individual problems reaching epidemic levels can decrease social problems.
• Psychology focuses on symptoms, while sociology focuses on causes.
• The "Great Transformation" involves shifts from: church to science; rural to suburban/urban; monarchy to democracy; agriculture to industry; "we" to "I"; whole person to narrow role; rights of kings to universal rights; capitalism to futalism,
• Émile Durkheim conducted statistical studies of suicide.
• August Comte, a French sociologist, viewed sociology as the ultimate science and sought to understand how order is maintained during periods of significant change.
• Comte identified three stages of knowledge: theological, metaphysical, and positive (scientific).

Chapter 2

• August Comte (1798-1857) was a French optimist who coined the term "sociology".
• Deontological ethics focuses on expanding rights and universal altruism.
• Consequentialism emphasizes self-interest; Immanuel Kant associated it with universal egoism.
• Virtues vary across societies, with some societies prioritizing certain virtues more than others.
• Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) was a British optimist and the second father of sociology.
• Spencer's social Darwinism advocates survival of the fittest, viewing societal evolution from simple to complex forms as superior, which was used to justify colonialism.
• Spencer had a utilitarian philosophy centered around achieving the greatest good for the greatest number (market).
• Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) was the first professor of sociology and a proponent of functionalism.
• Durkheim saw society evolving from mechanical solidarity (futalism) to organic solidarity (capitalism), from sameness to difference, from "we" to "I", and from rural to urban.
• Max Weber (1864-1921) was a German pessimist.
• Weber described a shift from substantive rationality to instrumental rationality, from Asian to Western values, from tradition to science/progress, from whole person to narrow role, and from altruism to egoism.
• Ferdinand Tönnies (1855-1936) was a German pessimist who studied community.
• Tönnies described a transition from rural communities (Gemeinschaft) to urban societies (Gesellschaft), from village to society/city, from "we" to "I", from whole person to narrow role, and from church to science. Community interest transforms into self-interest, and the community is lost.
• Karl Marx was a German optimist.
• Marx is known as the father of conflict theory, which critiques the status quo.
• Marx focused on history as a class struggle between the haves (bourgeoisie) and the have-nots (proletariat).
• False consciousness is the idea that the system works for everyone and class consciousness (first alienation) is when people realize it doesn't work for all.
• Marx outlined a progression from feudalism to capitalism to socialism to communism.
• Macro theories include structural functionalism, which sees structures performing functions for the benefit of all.
• Structural conflict sees structures benefiting some and harming others (e.g., divorce).
• Symbolic interactionism focuses on how people present themselves, create their lives, and view life as a social construction.
• Erving Goffman used a dramaturgical perspective, viewing life as a stage with actors playing roles (front/back).

Chapter 3 (Theory)

• Structuralism sees life as a game, where structure determines the outcome and factors like class, gender, and race influence fairness.
• Functionalism considers life a fair game with known and universally applied rules.
• Symbolic interactionism views life as a game where individuals create their own rules and outcomes.
• Conflict theory sees life as an unfair game with unknown or unequally applied rules.
• Methods in research include: quantitative (numbers) and qualitative (words).
• Independent variable: cause and dependent variable: effect
• A hypothesis is an informed guess about the relationship between independent and dependent variables.
• Normative prescription (expected behaviors) is deductive, starting with a theory and moving to specific observations.
• Empirical description (building theories first) is inductive, starting with observations and building to theories.
• Culture is learned vs. nature as in reflexes: involuntary actions and drives: eat, drink, shelter, reproduction, instinct, culture.
• Culture is a "road map" for living, encompassing learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects, and behavior.
• Material culture includes physical objects created and used in a society.
• Non-material culture includes language, beliefs, ideas, and norms.
• Dominant culture: white-anglo-saxon-protestant.
• Subcultures have norms that differ from the dominant culture.
• Countercultures oppose the norms of the dominant culture.
• Ethnocentrism (thinking your culture is superior) is a problem.
• Cultural relativism (judging cultures by their own standards) is a solution.
• Culture shock occurs when encountering unfamiliar cultural elements like food.
• Norms are expected behaviors
• Folkways are minor norm violations.
• Morés are major norm violations
• Socialization is the process of learning the norms.
• Creation of the self is teach self.
• Cooley's looking glass self concept: a person's self-image forms based on their perception of how others see them.
• Mimicking significant others.
• The generalized other represents the collective understanding of social norms, values, and expectations within a society.
• "Me" represents the socialized self, while "I" represents the unsocialized self.
• people have many selves; "Me" follows the rules, while "I" doesn't.
• Agents of socialization include: parents/family, primary: children, secondary: adults, school: peer groups: cliques/popular.
• Social structure involves status (position in a hierarchy), master role status (role exit), and role (behavior associated with a status).
• Several role conflicts (2 statuses) and several roles cause role strain (1 status), which impacts structure and function.
• Ascribed status (e.g., race, ethnicity) is assigned at birth.
• Achieved status (e.g., college graduate) is earned through merit or choices.
• In-group behavior involves identifying with and belonging to a social group, while out-group behavior involves not identifying with a group, leading to preferential treatment of in-group members.
• Social deviance is socially constructed behavior that violates social norms.
• Primary deviance involves minor violations; secondary deviance involves habitual violations leading to stigmatization.
• Durkheim argued that deviance plays a crucial societal role by clarifying boundaries.
• Differential association theory posits that criminal behavior is learned through interactions, primarily within close personal groups, due to: cultural transmission, imitation, teaching, and language.
• Structural strain theory suggests deviance arises when wants don't match means, leading to shortcuts (breaking the law).
• Social control theory examines why people don't deviate more.
• Labeling theory suggests individuals internalize and act according to the labels assigned to them by others.
• Interactionist perspective focuses on how people are treated when they deviate.
• Conflict perspective examines who has the power to label or define deviance.

Explore the foundational figures of sociology like Jane Addams, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and W.E.B. Du Bois. Understand the sociological perspective, emphasizing society's influence on individuals, and the sociological imagination, linking personal experiences to broader social contexts. Learn how sociology studies the causes of social problems, differentiating it from psychology's focus on symptoms.