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Explore how symbols and culture shape our humanity in the sociological perspective, examining the importance of symbols, the development of culture, and the three types of traits that define a culture.
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Sociology Write down what you think each of the following symbols represents
What makes us human? • In the sociological perspective, culture and society define humanity • It is our ability to recognize and relate to forms and symbols in our culture that sets us apart from other species • Sociology studies social forms, structures, and interactions • Socialization: the process of becoming human
Symbols • Symbols include anything that serves to represent something else • They become important components of a person’s culture • Symbols include letters and words, numbers, images, sounds, institutions, people…
Culture • Culture develops as a social framework. It does not confine us. We both shape it and are shaped by it. • It is a system of ideas, values, knowledge beliefs, and customs, transmitted within a group from one generation to another • Culture changes because it is the product of ongoing human interactions. • Ways culture changes: • Shifts in the natural environment (climate, demographics) • Contact with other cultures (trade, diversity) • Discovery and invention (medical advances, time-saving devices, new media & communication methods)
Behavioural traits: All of the behaviours expected by the culture Mental traits: All of the things culture has taught you to think and feel Material traits: All of the things produced by the culture for certain purposes Task: record as many of the following three types of traits as you can that define a culture to which you belong
Homework: • Read the handout and define the following terms in your notebook: • Roles • Norms • Values • Write down at least five things under each category that make up who you are
Values • General beliefs held by a culture that define what is good, right, just etc. • Values can change under different conditions • Different groups hold and prioritize different values
Roles • A set of socially constructed behaviours, rights, and obligations expected from an individual actor in a given social situation • We can play many roles at once • The multiple roles a person plays are sometimes in conflict • Roles can be achieved or ascribed
Norms • Specify which values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviours are socially permissible for people in different roles • Implicitly or explicitly define who is accepted and who is labeled ‘deviant’ - regulate behaviour and exert social control • Mores: highly regarded, provoke moral outrage when broken • Folkways: everyday habits or practices, would be seen as unusual if broken but not punished • Sanctions: formal or informal penalties or rewards given to ensure conformity to norms
Gustave Dore, Over London by Rail (1872) What does this image tell us about the environment in which sociology emerged?
Social and Political Changes • Industrial Revolution (late 18th Century) • French (1789) and American (1775) Revolutions New economic and political structures, changes in power, social unrest, rapid urbanization, rise of the middle class, rise in crime, pollution and disease, large-scale manufacturing & employment etc. Sociologists applied the tools of the Enlightenment to these social issues
Sociological Perspectives Macro: analysis of large-scale or “big picture” social problems, study of institutions and structures, how out roles in society determine our actions Micro: analysis of specific small-scale problems, interactions between individuals in groups, how individuals derive meaning from social situations
Auguste Comte (1789-1857) • Developed positivism: an approach that posits that through the scientific method, we can identify, explain, predict, and solve social problems • There are observable, verifiable laws governing society • Coined the term sociology - by scientifically studying trends in human development, sociologists can improve society
Emile Durkheim Excerpts from The Rules of Sociological Method (1895) “The determining cause of a social fact should be sought among the social facts preceding it and not among the states of the individual consciousness.” “When I fulfill my obligations as brother, husband, or citizen, when I execute my contracts, I perform duties which are defined, externally to myself and my acts, in law and in custom. Even if they conform to my own sentiments and I feel their reality subjectively, such reality is still objective, for I did not create them; I merely inherited them through my education.” “These types of conduct or thought are not only external to the individual but are, moreover, endowed with coercive power, by virtue of which they impose themselves upon him, independent of his individual will.”
Durkheim’s 4 Types of Suicide • Egoisticsuicide: When an individual has a prolonged sense of not belonging or being integrated into a community, and experiences a sense of meaninglessness, apathy, disillusionment, and depression. (Integration too low) • Altruistic suicide: when the collective consciousness is too strong, and the individual has a sense of being overwhelmed by a group's goals and beliefs that force one into suicide (Integration too high) • Anomic suicide: reflects an individual's moral confusion and social instability, which is related to dramatic social and economic upheaval. An individual feels rootless, unsure of his role and unregulated by social norms. (Regulation too low) • Fatalistic suicide: When a person is excessively regulated, when their futures are pitilessly blocked and passions violently choked by oppressive discipline, and the person sees no way out. (Regulation too high)
