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Week 1 Module: Introduction to Sociology

Mar 5, 2025

Introduction to Sociology

Overview

  • Sociology is the study of human societies.
  • Explores why crime occurs, poverty, and mundane human actions.
  • Focuses on social causes of seemingly natural events or actions.

Sociological Perspective

  • Sociologists study the wider context, historical events, and social processes that influence individual behavior.
  • C. Wright Mills' Sociological Imagination
    • Encourages understanding the link between individual experiences and broader social issues.
    • Makes public issues of what appear to be personal troubles.

Foundational Theorists

  • Auguste Comte

    • Coined the term "sociology."
    • Advocated for studying society scientifically.
  • Émile Durkheim

    • Focused on discovering social facts, defined as rules channeling behavior that exist independently of individuals.
    • Studied suicide as a social fact using quantitative data to show external factors influence personal acts.

Evolution of Sociology

  • Early sociology (Durkheim, Parsons, Merton)

    • Focused on social cohesion and how institutions regulate behavior.
  • Later sociology (Mead, Blumer, Goffman)

    • Studied individual interactions and the management of impressions in social life.
    • Goffman likened society to a play where individuals are actors and audience.

Deviance and Social Norms

  • Howard S. Becker

    • Studied how behaviors become labeled as deviant.
  • Stanley Cohen

    • Analyzed media sensationalism and moral panics.

Michel Foucault's Contributions

  • Argued that understandings of mental illness are shaped by medical language.
  • Explored the emergence of criminals as a group alongside modern prisons.
  • Asserted that power and knowledge are linked, influencing institutions like prisons, hospitals, and schools.

Edward Said's Extension of Foucault

  • Argued the West constructs the East as inferior, facilitating European colonialism.

Key Questions in Sociology

  • Do individuals control their lives, or are they constrained by societal forces?
  • Is conflict normal or pathological?
  • Where does societal knowledge originate?

Conclusion

  • Sociology provides insights into the world we live in and the role of sociologists as scientists of society.