socio review Flashcards
social change
there is a shift in society from one stage to the next whether for good or bad
status
the position of an individual in society whether it be ascribed or achieved and which brings with them specific behaviours
norms
these are guidelines for expected behaviours within specified contexts
values
ideas that are considered as proper, good, correct, worthwhile
social group
these comprise of individuals interacting with each other whether formally or informally
culture
the total way of life of a society comprising of tangible and intangible objects
sociology
a systematic study of society whether the society is an advanced industrial one or a simple traditional one. It is also the study of human behaviour; it focuses not on the individual per se but on how individuals interact with and relate to each other
stages of sociology as a discipline
Renaissance
Enlightenment/Age of Rationalism/Age of Reason
Romanticism
French Revolution
Industrial Revolution
Renaissance
- 1300 to 1600
- thinking from the Middle Ages were debunked
- focus on humanism
- instead of solely focusing on theology subjects like literature and philosophy were studied to help understand the problems of humanity
Enlightenment/Age of Reason/ Age of Reason
- late 1600 to early 1700
- emphasized on the scientific method and its use of experimentation
- positivist thinking
Romanticism
end of 1700s
- ideals of human dignity and human worth
- people came to value emotion, passion,spontaneity and individuality
French Revolution
fueled by the inequality among three stratified groups
Industrial Revolution
- Industrialization
- moved away from rural areas
- urbanization
- impact on social class structures
- major impact on political, social economic life
Lloyd Ewen Stuart Brathwaite
Trinidadian sociologist who wrote “Social Stratification in Trinidad”. It looked at the complex nature of class, colour and culture by merging Weber’s inner dynamics of society with Parsons’ macro sociology to help our understanding of Caribbean stratification
Michael Garfield Smith
- adapted J.S. Furnivall’s plural society
- he wrote an article called “social and cultural pluralism”. he attempted to develop a theoretical perspective for understanding the complexities of societies characterised by prominent cultural diversity.
George Beckford
Marxist ideology reflected in the plantation model
analysed not only the way in which the plantations were organised in terms of their economic structure also how this had an impact on social stratification also how this had an impact on social stratification
colour was a symbol of status
attempted to understand the Caribbean society in the 1960s with focus on the under developed status of the Caribbean Region
EK Brathwaite
came up with the creolisation thesis
Creolisation thesis by EK Brathwaite
comprised a reciprocal response of blacks and whites whereby they both imitated each other’s behaviour
sociological imagination was developed by
C. Wright Mills
social structure
According to Gaspard et al 2005,social structure refers to the framework of society, that is, the patterns around which is organized. This is the structure and culture of societies in which relationships develop in the social group and establishes how we relate to one another both within the family and along family units
Social institutions
According to Gaspard et al, they represent an enduring organized system of behavioural patterns that each society develops to meet its basic needs, they provide routine patterns for dealing with predictable patterns of social life
social order
According to Haralombus and Holborn (2013), it forms the basis of social unity or social solidarity since individuals will tend to identify and feel kinship with those who share the same values as themselves
socialisation
According to Giddens (2006) the process whereby the helpless infant becomes a self-aware , knowledgeable person skilled in the ways of the culture in which he or she was born
primary socialization
- considered the most important part of the process
- takes place during infancy and within the family
secondary socialization
- occurs after infancy
- builds on the process of primary socialization
- less hierarchal
resocialisation
- process of learning new cultures, values , standards
- relevant to adults (adapting to a new work environment )
- Incarceration - rehabilitation, behaviour modification through environmental manipulation
- Institutionalization - behaviour modification
reverse socialisation
- Adults being re-socialized by the younger persons of society, learning new norms and values
-adapting to new technologies
anticipatory socialization
entails social learning towards gaining a desired position
Macro perspective
The wider impact of society on the individual and how this shapes their behaviour
functionalism
views the individual as being influenced by social facts such as norms values rules regulations and laws. hence the actions of an individual are neither physiological nor psychological but because of the influence of society. the need for social order facilitated by organic solidarity results in organic solidarity the need for modern society to survive
Durkheim social facts
belief systems, customs, and institutions of society which exists outside the individual and so coerces his/her behaviour
according to functionalists, society has certain basic needs and requirements that must be met for survival. These are called functional pre - requisites
Adaptation - we must adapt to the environment
Goal Attainment- important in keeping us alive as we move from potential to achieve to self actualisation
Integration - the most important since organically we need and depend on each other
Latency or pattern maintenance - the main feature of social institutions as they make social life or predictable and less chaotic
Criticisms of Functionalism
- Pays too little attention to the human construction of social reality
- Pays too much attention to social order
-Assumes too much importance to consensus
Marxism
The conflict theories see the economic system as the driving force behind an individual’s action. According to Marxism the economic system forms the infrastructure and the norms, values etc. forms the superstructure. The superstructure is determined by the economy.
Tenets of Marxism
Opposes Functionalism
- Emphasizes “ conflict as an inevitable part of social life and as the most important agent for social change”(Ferrante 2006)
- Asserts that discord and disunity are common and persistent features of society
- “The conflict perspective helps us to see how inequality and the conflict it generates are rooted in the organization of society itself” (Haralombus &Horthorne 2012)
- Conflict is perpetuated between the different groups and classes due to varying inequalities and interests.
Criticisms of Marxism
- Communism is not what Marx envisioned.. social inequality is still present
- Little indication of the proletariat becoming a class for itself
- Class structure in capitalist societies is not characterised by polarisation but is more complex because of a growing middle class
-Sometimes the superstructure, not the economic infrastructure, directs change
- '’Religious beliefs provided the ethics, attitudes and motivations for the development of capitalism ( H&H2013)
-Views on the direction of social change have not been materialized
Micro Perspective
focused on how the interactions made by the individual shapes his/her behaviour. the use of symbols and the meaning placed on those symbols
Interactionism
This theory gives centrality to human processes and interactions
Theory examines how individuals shape society and are shaped by social interactions
Human beings act towards things on the basis of meanings that thes things have to them
Meanings that we have for many things arise out of social interactions
Feminism
the belief in equality among the sexes
Patriarchy
the hierarchal structure in which men are seemed to have more power than women
Sexism
the idea that men are superior to women
Misogyny
the hatred of women
DEFINE Sociology as it relates to Industrialization
Sociology was developed to account for the changes that accompanied industrial society
Family
The family is a social group characterised by common residence economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children owned or adopted of the sexually cohabiting adults
(George Murdock 1949
Who disagreed with Murdock’s belief that the nuclear family is most ideal
Edholm (1982) states that there is nothing ideal about the nuclear family as families are socially constructed and based on culture rather than biology
function of the family according to parsons
stabilisation of adult personalities
primary socialisation
assumptions of the functionalists on family
Marriage is important in the family
The isolated nuclear family is fast becoming the dominant family form in modern industrial societies
There is a natural fit between modern industrial societies
Roles in the family are becoming increasingly equal
The family is a good thing as its functional for its members and a wider society
Criticism of the functionalist perspective (family)
Functionalist theories tend to give rise to the benefits of the family but little consideration is made for the disadvantages
Functionalists fail to consider the viability of alternatives to the family
Many functionalists do not consider the other family types
Interpretivists argue that functionalists place too much emphasis on the role that the family plays for society
while ignoring how individuals in families develop their own meaning of things and figure out things based on what these interactions mean to them
Assumptions of the Marxists on the Family
The economy influences the structure of the family
The family is responsible for maintaining class divisions in capitalist society as children are socialised into accepting their social class position,this ensures that the ruling class always have a labour force to exploit.
Married women are oppressed in the home and taken advantage of and they are regarded as nothing more than a reserve labour force
The family is seen as a place of refuge from work
Families are the consumers in a modern capitalists societies as they purchase a wide range of goods
Leach
believes that the family isolates its members and in some cases promotes religious bigotry racism and sexism in the home
Criticisms of the Marxist perspective
(family)
- Marxists agrees that the structure of the family is dependent on the nature of the social system
- Marxists focus on the negative aspects of the family and fail to recognize the satisfaction it provides for its members
- because of the many changes made in the workplace it is unlikely women will remain a reserve labour workforce
- Feminists disagree with Marxists as they believe the reason for women’s inequality is because of gender and not class
