The Sociological View PDF

Auguste Comte (1798–1857) Auguste Comte (1798–1857) argued that societies, like organisms, evolve over time. Using a theory known as the law of three stages, he claimed that early societies were dominated by theological powers (stage 1) because religion provided simple answers to life’s co...

Auguste Comte (1798–1857) Auguste Comte (1798–1857) argued that societies, like organisms, evolve over time. Using a theory known as the law of three stages, he claimed that early societies were dominated by theological powers (stage 1) because religion provided simple answers to life’s complicated questions. Societies evolved to a “metaphysical” stage that allowed for philosophical reasoning (stage 2). However, this evolved stage was simply a transition to the “positive” stage. It served as a bridge from ignorance to scientific thinking.  The positive stage (stage 3) -positivism. Positivism, for Comte meant embracing a reliance on science for answering life’s complicated questions. Comte recognized the rapidly changing nature of society and encouraged the scientific study of this development.  Comte’s idea of positivism is based on the idea that everything in society is observable and subject to patterns or laws. Discovering these laws would help sociologists explain human behavior. To prove the existence of laws, sociologists were expected to conduct and compile empirical research guided by theory. Comte believed strongly that the purpose of sociology as a discipline is to discover, define, and identify social patterns. Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) He is known as one of the founders of modern sociology and the founder of functionalism”; he was also the first full professor of sociology (at the University of Bordeaux in 1895). In his work The Division of Labor in Society (1893) he presented an analysis of social change which argued that the advent of the industrial era meant the emergence of a new type of solidarity. He contrasted two types of solidarity: mechanical and organic He related them to the division of labor, the growth of distinctions between different occupations.  According to Durkheim, traditional cultures with a low division of labor are characterized by mechanical solidarity. Because most members of the society are involved in similar occupations, they are bound together by common experience and shared beliefs. The strength of these shared beliefs is repressive – the community swiftly punishes anyone who challenges conventional ways of life. In this way there is little room for individual dissent. Mechanical solidarity is grounded in consensus and similarity of belief.  Durkheim chose to study suicide (1897) because it is a relatively concrete and specific phenomenon that lends itself to statistical analysis. The importance of his study rests with the fact that Durkheim was able to show that this act, which is generally highly individualistic, could be understood sociologically. He was interested in categorizing different types of suicide  Durkheim created a model that defined four categories of suicide—egoistic, altruistic, anomic, and fatalistic— and linked each with its degree of integration into, or regulation by, society. Integration refers to the degree to which collective sentiments are shared: Durkheim argued that when society is strongly integrated, it holds individuals under its control. Regulation refers to the degree of external constraint and pressure on people. Integration altruistic suicide is associated with a high degree of integration egoistic suicide with a low degree of integration Regulation fatalistic suicide is associated with high regulation anomic suicide with low regulation.  Egoistic suicide: High rates are likely to be found in societies or groups in which the individual is not well integrated into the larger social unit, such as someone who is suffering from deep depression or social isolation. A person who is left by a spouse or significant other, for example, may feel so depressed by this social disconnection from a loved one that she or he is compelled to commit suicide.  Altruistic suicide: This occurs when social integration is too strong. The individual is compelled by social forces into committing suicide, as happened in 1997 when thirty-nine members of the Heaven’s Gate religious cult killed themselves by ingesting poison. Altruistic suicide is also committed when social prestige is attached to the act; examples include the suicides of Japanese kamikaze pilots in World War II.  Anomic suicide: Durkheim used the term “anomie” to describe a sense of normlessness among people. Anomie generally occurs during periods of rapid social change for groups or individuals, when the usual norms break down. Workers who suddenly lose their jobs and people who suddenly lose large sums of money on the stock market would be candidates for anomic suicide.  Fatalistic suicide: occurs when regulation is too excessive, leaving the individual with little or no sense of control over his or her own life. Candidates for this type of suicide would include people facing a life prison sentence or forced into slavery.  Emile Durkheim’s sociology was grounded in a macro (largescale), functionalist perspective based on his belief that society is a system and that its parts (institutions) contribute to its stability and continual existence.