The Sociological Perspective

1. The Sociological Perspective The systematic study of human society Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

2. What Is Sociology? “...The systematic study of human society ” • Systematic • Scientific discipline that focuses attention on patterns of behavior • Human society • Group behavior is primary focus; how groups influence individuals and vice versa • At the “heart of sociology” • The sociological perspective which offers a unique view of society Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

3. Why Take Sociology? • Education and liberal arts • Well-rounded as a person • Social expectations • More appreciation for diversity • The global village • Domestic social marginality • Enhanced life chances • Micro and macro understanding • Increase social potentials Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

4. Benefits of the Sociological Perspective • Helps us assess the truth of common sense • Helps us assess both opportunities and constraints in our lives • Empowers us to be active participants in our society • Helps us live in a diverse world Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

5. Importance of Global Perspective • Where we live makes a great difference in shaping our lives • Societies throughout the world are increasingly interconnected through technology and economics. • Many problems that we face in the United States are more serious elsewhere. • Thinking globally is a good way to learn more about ourselves. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

6. The Sociological PerspectivePeter Berger • Seeing the general in the particular • Sociologists identify general social patterns in the behavior of particular individuals. • Seeing the strange in the familiar • Giving up the idea that human behavior is simply a matter of what people decide to do • Understanding that society shapes our lives Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

7. Durkheim’s Study of Suicide • Emile Durkheim’s research showed that society affects even our most personal choices. • More likely to commit: male Protestants who were wealthy and unmarried • Less likely to commit: male Jews and Catholics who were poor and married • One of the basic findings: Why? • The differences between these groups had to do with “social integration.” • Those with strong social ties had less of a chance of committing suicide. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

8. C. Wright Mills’Sociological Imagination • The power of the sociological perspective lies not just in changing individual lives but in transforming society. • Society, not people’s personal failings, is the cause of social problems. • The sociological imagination transforms personal problems into public issues. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

9. The Origins of Sociology • One of the youngest of academic disciplines, sociology has its origins in powerful social forces. • Social Change • Industrialization, urbanization, political revolution, and a new awareness of society • Science • 3-Stages: Theological, Metaphysical & Scientific • Positivism–A way of understanding based on science • Gender & Race • These important contributions have been pushed to the margins of society. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

10. Sociological Theory • Theory: a statement of how and why facts are related • Explains social behavior to the real world • Theoretical paradigm: A set of fundamental assumptions that guides thinking • Structural-functional • Social-conflict • Symbolic-interaction Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

11. Structural-Functional Paradigm • The basics • A macro-level orientation, concerned with broad patterns that shape society as a whole • Views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability • Key elements: • Social structure refers to any relatively stable patterns of social behavior found in social institutions. • Social function refers to the consequences for the operation of society as a whole. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

12. Who’s Who in the Structural-Functional Paradigm • Auguste Comte • Importance of social integration during times of rapid change • Emile Durkheim • Helped establish sociology as a discipline • Herbert Spencer • Compared society to the human body • Robert K. Merton • Manifest functions are recognized and intended consequences. • Latent functions are unrecognized and unintended consequences. • Social dysfunctions are undesirable consequences. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

13. Social-Conflict Paradigm • The basics: • A macro-oriented paradigm • Views society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change • Key elements: • Society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the expense of the majority. • Factors such as race, sex, class, and age are linked to social inequality. • Dominant group vs. disadvantaged group relations Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

14. Who’s Who in theSocial-Conflict Paradigm • Karl Marx • The importance of social class in inequality and social conflict • W.E.B. Du Bois • Race as the major problem facing the United States in the 20th century Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

15. Feminism and the Gender-Conflict Approach • A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men • Closely linked to feminism, the advocacy of social equality for women and men • Women important to the development of sociology: Harriet Martineau and Jane Addams Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

16. The Race-Conflict Approach • A point of view that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories • People of color important to the development of sociology: Ida Wells Barnett and W.E.B. Du Bois Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

17. Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm • The basics • A micro-level orientation, a close-up focus on social interactions in specific situations • Views society as the product of everyday interactions of individuals • Key elements • Society is nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they interact with one another. • Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic of subjective meanings. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

18. Who’s Who in the Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm • Max Weber • Understanding a setting from the people in it • George Herbert Mead • How we build personalities from social experience • Erving Goffman • Dramaturgical analysis • George Homans & Peter Blau • Social-exchange analysis Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

19. Critical Evaluation • Structural-Functional • Too broad, ignores inequalities of social class, race & gender, focuses on stability at the expense of conflict • Social-Conflict • Too broad, ignores how shared values and mutual interdependence unify society, pursues political goals • Symbolic-Interaction • Ignores larger social structures, effects of culture, factors such as class, gender & race Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

20. Applying the Approaches: The Sociology of Sports • The Functions of Sports • A structural-functional approach directs our attention to the ways in which sports help society operate • Sports have functional and dysfunctional consequences Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

21. Sports and Conflict • Social-conflict analysis points out that games people play reflect their social standing. • Sports have been oriented mostly toward males. • Big league sports excluded people of color for decades. • Sports in the United States are bound up with inequalities based on gender, race, and economic power. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

22. Sports as Interaction • Following the symbolic-interaction approach, sports are less a system than an ongoing process. • All three theoretical approaches—structural-functional, social-conflict, and symbolic-interaction—provide different insights into sports. None is more correct than the others. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis Copyright  2008 Prentice Hall, a division of Pearson Education. All rights reserved.