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Summary

This document provides an overview of social science concepts, such as structural functionalism, Marxism, and symbolic interactionism. It discusses various theories and perspectives within the field, and the ways in which these theories examine the structure of society and the interactions within it.

Full Transcript

Social science is a branch of science devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. Studying it can provide us with so many important answers and observations that may help improve the understanding of our lives, and thus help us to impro...

Social science is a branch of science devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. Studying it can provide us with so many important answers and observations that may help improve the understanding of our lives, and thus help us to improve our interactions with each other. It provides insight into all types of social situations, such as social relationships, cultural differences, and so on. Class – a group of people within society who have the same economic and social position Dialectical – discovering what is true by considering opposite theories Equilibrium – a state of balance Evolutionary – involving a gradual process of change and development Functionalism – the principle that the most important thing about an object such as a building is its use rather than what it looks like. Function – the natural purpose (of something) or the duty (of a person). Historical – connected with studying or representing things from the past. Interaction – an occasion when two or more people or things communicate with or react to each other Latent – present but needing particular conditions to become active, obvious, or completely developed Manifest – to show something clearly, through signs or actions Marxism – a social, political, and economic theory that is based on the writings of Karl Marx Materialism – the belief that having money and possessions is the most important thing in life Philosophical – relating to the study or writing of philosophy Structural – relating to the way in which parts of a system or object are arranged. Symbolic – representing something else Structural Functionalism is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Economy, religion, politics, education, and family are to be considered groups as a major institution. Individual and group behavior, more often than not, serves a FUNCTION for the larger society. According to functionalism, society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole. Functionalists’ perspectives emphasize the interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts. Functionalists use the terms functional and dysfunctional to describe the effects of social elements on society. It is functional if they contribute to social stability and dysfunctional if they disrupt social stability. Some aspects of society can be both functional and dysfunctional. For example, crime is dysfunctional because it is associated with physical violence, loss of property, and fear. Robert Merton identified two types of functions, the manifest function, and latent function. Manifest functions are consequences that are intended and commonly recognized. In contrast, latent functions are consequences that are unintended and often hidden. For example, the manifest function of education is to transmit knowledge and skills to society’s youth. But public elementary schools also serve as babysitters for employed parents, and colleges offer a place for young adults to meet potential mates. The babysitting and mate-selection functions are not the intended or commonly recognized functions of education; hence they are latent functions. According to him, 5 situations are facing an actor. Conformity occurs when an individual has the means and desire to achieve the cultural goals socialized into them. Innovation occurs when an individual strives to attain the accepted cultural goals but chooses to do so in a novel or unaccepted method. Ritualism occurs when an individual continues to do things as prescribed by society but forfeits the achievement of the goals. Retreatism is the rejection of both the means and the goals of society. Rebellion is a combination of the rejection of societal goals and means and a substitution of other goals and means. Marxism is a method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development to understand class relations and social conflict, as well as a dialectical perspective to view social transformation. Karl Marx (1818-1883) wrote the Communist Manifesto (1848) that shows the basic struggle between classes and recommends action against the 'specter' of capitalism Capital (1867). It shows how the capitalist system is exploitative in that it "transfers the fruit of the work of the majority...to a minority”. The book contains theories about the nature of society and politics, that in their own words, "The history of all as yet existing society is the history of class struggles". Friedrich Engels (1820 – 1895) was a German social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, together with Karl Marx. He wrote Das Kapital. He organized Marx's notes on the "Theories of Surplus Value," which he later published as the "fourth volume" of Capital. He wrote the Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State (1884), presents the evolution of humankind from primitive communism, to slavery, feudalism, capitalism, and finally, industrial communism. Marx and Engels examined the conflict generated by the increasing wealth of the capitalists (Bourgeoisie) at the expense of the working class (Proletariat) who only sunk deeper into poverty. Violence and repression could reinforce legal power if the peasantry resisted handing over the surplus. They viewed social change as an evolutionary process marked by a revolution in which new levels of social, political, and economic development were achieved through class struggle. A class is defined in terms of the relationship of people's labor to the means of production. Each mode of production produced characteristic class relationships involving a dominating and a subordinate class. is a methodology used that focuses on human societies and their development through history, arguing that history is the result of material conditions rather than ideals. It is principally a theory of history that asserts that the material conditions of a society's mode of production, the union of a society's productive forces and relations of production, fundamentally determine society's organization and development. It is materialist as it does not believe that history has been driven by an individual's consciousness or ideas but rather subscribes to the philosophical monism that matter is the fundamental substance of nature and henceforth the driving force in all of world history. is a philosophy of science and nature developed in Europe and based on the writings of Marx and Engels. Marxist dialectics emphasizes the importance of real-world conditions in terms of class, labor, and socioeconomic interactions. Marx supposed that these material conditions contained contradictions that seek resolution in new forms of social organization. Dialectical materialism accepts the evolution of the natural world and the emergence of new qualities of being at new stages of evolution. Change within a society is seen as the result of contradictions arising between the forces of production and the relations of production. Such contradictions are seen to emerge as a struggle between distinct social classes. Symbolic interactionism is a sociological theory that develops from practical considerations and suggests to people's particular utilization of dialect to make images and normal implications, for deduction and correspondence with others. This perspective relies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and build upon in the process of social interaction. The interpretation process that occurs between interactions helps create and recreate meaning. It is the shared understanding and interpretations of meaning that affect the interaction between individuals A theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors. Subjective meanings are given primacy because it is believed that people behave based on what they believe and not just on what is objectively true. It looks at individual and group meaning-making, focusing on human action instead of large-scale social structures. Symbolic interaction was conceived by George Herbert Mead. He is the one who argued that “people's selves are social products, but that these selves are also purposive and creative.” He argued that people's selves are social products, but these selves are also purposive and creative and believed that the true test of any theory is if it is "useful in solving complex social problems”. It is a social theory of the self or a looking glass self. It studies meaning and communication and they tend to use qualitative methods. It has been criticized for failing to take into account large-scale macro-social structures and forces. For example, studies find that teenagers are well informed about the risks of tobacco, but they also think that smoking is cool, they will be safe from harm, and smoking projects a positive image to their peers. So, the symbolic meaning of smoking overrides the facts regarding smoking and risk. by Herbert Blumer (1969) set out three basic premises of the perspective: 1. "Humans act toward things based on the meanings they ascribe to those things." includes everything that a human being may note in their world, including physical objects, actions, and concepts. Essentially, individuals behave towards objects and others based on the personal meanings that the individuals have already given these items. 2. "The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with others and the society." arises out of, the social interaction that one has with other humans. 3. "These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretative process used by the person in dealing with the things he/she encounters." We naturally talk to ourselves to sort out the meaning of a difficult situation.

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