Session 4 Flashcards
What is sociology?
The scientific approach to understanding people in society
What is society?
System/ structure in which our behaviours are ‘institutionalized’
A.k.a. ‘external forces’
What is agency?
Our own choice in our behaviours
What is socialization? (3)
A process of shaping and influencing us
Becoming aware of expectations, values and beliefs of society
Allows us to predict the behaviour of others
Why do sociologists offer theories?
To make sense of out everyday life world
What is the important dichotomy in sociology
Agency vs Structure
What are the characteristics of agency? (5)
We shape society
We have a level of autonomy
Micro (individual) actions are capable of influencing societal change
Unique way of interpretation of roles/expectations
Measure of uncertainty
What are the characteristics of structure? (4)
We are shaped by society
Institutions, traditions - unquestioning way of doing things
Macro institutions and forces that exert forces on individuals
Allows society to function as it introduces predictability
What is medical sociology? (5)
Disease can also be explained structurally as well as biologically
Impact of modern social life can influence health through the individual life cycle
Disease vs illness
State of health can depend on social factors (age, gender, economic status)
How infectious diseases become chronic
What is sociological imagination?
A specific way of thinking about the world - requires thinking beyond our own expectations and challenging ‘common sense’
What are the 3 fundamental questions for sociological imagination?
What is the structure of the particular society?
Where does the structure fit into human history?
What varieties of men/women now prevail in this society?
What is functionalism? (3)
An analogy between the body and society
Central values system relies on underlying cultural subsystem
‘sick role’
Explain the sick role of functionalism? (2)
A person is excused from their normal role/responsibilities
Medical profession must legitimise this - otherwise too many would exploit it
What is symbolic interactionism? (4)
Sees a fundamental difference between natural and social studies
Focuses on human consciousness - how we perceive things
Questions common place behaviours and norms (what is normal but isn’t)
Focuses on micro interactions to determine those structural ones
What is marxism? (3)
Focus of economic structures to explain the patterns of conflict between the powerful and powerless
Questions ‘naturalness’ of this
“inequalities of health between classes?”
