Class 1 Flashcards
What is a society?
A society can be defined as the group of people who share a culture and live/interact with each other within a definable area.
What does sociology attempts to do?
Sociology attempts to understand the behaviour of groups.
Functionalism is also known as
Structural Functionalism
Functionalism
Functionalism is a view that conceptualizes society as a living organism with many different parts and organs, each of which has a distinct purpose.
Just like individual organs function independently to help the organism survive, social structures work together to sustain society.
Who is considered as the father of sociology?
Emile Durkheim
What did emile durkheim do?
Pioneered the modern social research and established the field as separate and distinct from psychology and political philosophy
What are the aspects of the primitive society?
Believing that people might be held together because they were all quite similar, sharing a common language, as well as values, and symbols.
What did emile durkheim argue about the modern society?
In modern society, he argued, people might be quite dissimilar, but still relied upon each other to make the society function. He proposed that complex societies involved many different but interdependent parts working together to maintain stability, a type of dynamic equilibrium.
He believed that health societies would be able to achieve and maintain this equilibrium, unhealthy ones would not.
He also believed that society should be believed holistically- as a collective of social facts, rather than individuals.
Social facts
Social facts are the elements that serve some function in society, such as laws, morals, values, religions, customs, rituals, and rules that make up a society.
Manifest functions
Manifest functions are the intended and obvious consequences of a structure. Eg. the manifest function of a hospital may be to promote health in the population.
Latent functions
Latent functions are unintended or less recognizable consequence, and can be considered beneficial, neutral or harmful. Eg. for a hospital, a latent function may be to reduce crime by creating more jobs in a community.
Social dysfunction
A social dysfunction is a process that has undesirable consequences, and may actually reduce the stability of society. For example, the hospital may also increase an income gap between medical professionals in the community and others.
When was functionalism theory most prevailing?
in the 1950s.
What does the functionalist perspective emphasizes on?
it emphasizes on the harmony of parts.
What is the view of conflict theory towards society?
Conflict theory views society as a competition for limited resources.
According to conflict theory, society is a place where there will be inequality in resources, therefore individuals will compete for social, political, and material resources like money land, power and leisure.
Those with the most power and influence will maintain their positions of power by suppressing the advancement of others.
The theory focuses on those aspects that are functional for one group in society, but dysfunctional for another.
Karl Marx
Closely identified with conflict theory.
He looked at the conflict between different social classes.
Class struggle between the owner and the labour class.
Karl Marx believed that capitalism produced internal tensions which would ultimately lead to self- destruction capitalist society, to be replaced by socialism.
Ludwig Gumplowicz
He expanded upon Karl Marx’s ideas by proposing that society is shaped by war and conquest, and that cultural and ethnic conflicts lead to certain groups becoming dominant over other groups.
How did Max Weber agree with Marx?
Max weber agreed with Marx that inequalities in a capitalist system would lead to conflict, but he did not believe that the collapse of capitalism was inevitable; rather, he argued that there could be more than one source of conflict, such as conflict over inequalities in political power and social status.
Who are considered as the three founding fathers of sociology?
Along with Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber are considered the three founding fathers of sociology.
What is the most recent conflict theory?
More recently, conflict theory has been applied to inequalities between groups based on race and gender. Conflict theory has been used to explain the forces at work in maintaining a system of inequality that continues to oppress women and minority groups.
What is the major criticism of conflict theory?
The major criticism of conflict theory is that it focuses too much on conflict and does not recognize the role of stability within society. Conflict theory
a. ignores the non-forceful ways in which people and groups reach agreement
b. approaches society more from the perspective of those who lack power, and
c. focuses on economic factors almost exclusively as the sole issue for conflict within society.
Which two perspectives look at society from a macro (zoomed out) perspective?
Conflict Theory and Functionalism
Which two perspectives look at society from a micro (close-up) perspective?
Symbolic interactionism
It sees the society as the buildup of everyday typical interactions.
Symbolic interactionism
This theory examines the relationship between individuals and society by focusing on communication, the exchange of information through language and symbols.
Symbolic interactionism is particularly interested in the symbols that people use to contribute values and beliefs to others.
Eg. dress codes at the workplace can communicate a sense of whether the setting is casual or formal. The presence of bike lanes may communicate the values of a community. All of these small social changes combined create our overall impression of society. Symbolic interactionism sees the individual as active in shaping her society, instead of as merely being acted upon by society.
This theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanings that people impose upon objects, events and behaviours.
Why is subjective meanings important?
Subjective meaning is important, because people behave based on what they believe to be true, whether or not it actually is true.
Dramaturgical Approach
A specific type of interactionist philosophy is called the dramaturgical approach.
This assumes that people are theatrical performers and that everyday life is a stage. Just as actors project a certain on-screen image, people in society choose what kind of image they want to communicate verbally and nonverbally to others.
Eg. college student who has a different image at his/her work, at home or in class.
What is the primary criticism with dramaturgical approach?
The primary criticism is that research may not be objective, and that the theory is focused too narrowly on symbolic interaction.
Social Constructionism
Social constructionism argues that people actively shape their reality through social interactions - it is therefore something that is constructed, not inherent.
A major focus of social constructionism is to uncover the ways in which individuals and groups participate in the construction of their perceived social reality.
Social construct
A social construct is a concept or practice that is construct of a group; essentially, everybody in society agrees to treat a certain aspect a certain way regardless of its inherent value. For example, money in itself is worthless- merely a piece of paper or metal - but because people have agreed that it is valuable, it has agreed-upon value.
A social construct is something that isn’t, necessarily, inherently true in nature. Possibly one of the best examples of social construction is the institution of marriage. It is something that exists completely within the realm of human society and contains its own specific rules, morals, expectations etc. Society has created certain ideas about how marriage is supposed to look, as well as how it is supposed to be fulfilled by individuals.
Social institutions
Social institutions are a complex of roles, norms, and values organized into a relatively stable form that contributes to social order by governing the behaviour of people.
Social institutions provide predictability and organization for individuals within a society, and mediate social behaviour between people.
Over history, families have tended to serve 5 functions
1) Reproduction and the monitoring of sexual behavior
2) Protection
3) Socialization—passing down norms and values of society
4) Affection and companionship
5) Social status—social position is often based onfamily background and reputation.
Nuclear Family
direct blood relations
extended family
grandparents, aunts, uncles, and others are included.
