Transcript for:
Introduction to Sociology

[Music] Introduction to Sociology Third Edition an Open Stacks textbook this free Audi book is a public service of Los Angeles Harbor College register for in-person and online courses today by visiting www.lahc.edu you can find this Audi book anywhere you listen to podcasts including Spotify YouTube Apple podcasts and more chapter 1 an Introduction to [Music] Sociology introduction a busy commuter train station might seem like a very individualized Place tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of strangers flow through with a singular purpose to get where they need to go whether walking through main doors at a pace of a dozen people each second or arriving by train hundreds at a time the station can feel a bit like a balloon being pumped too full throngs of people cluster in tight bottlenecks until they burst through corridors and stairways and tunnels to reach the next stage of their journey in some stations walking against the crowd can be a tedious nearly impossible process and cutting across a river of determined commuters can be almost dangerous things are fast Relentless and necessary but are those 100,000 or half a million or in the case of Tokyo's Shinjuku station 3.5 million people really acting individually it may seem surprising but even with those numbers strangers from across cities can sink up on the same schedules use the same doors take one leg of the trip together every day before separating into different directions after just a few months faces can become familiar and senses can be tuned an experienced commuter can tell where another person is going according to their pace and whatever announcement just went out they may slow up a bit to let the other person pass or hold a door open just a bit longer than usual certain that someone will grab the handle behind them many regulars don't need to check the schedule board they sense whether a train is running late or whether a track has changed simply by the movement of the crowd and then the Customs develop which side to walk on how fast to go where to stand how much space to leave between people on the escalator when you board early which seat should you take when you see someone running for the train do you jam the closing door with your foot how does the crowd treat people who ask for food or money what's the risk level in telling someone to be quiet very few of these behaviors are taught none are written down but the transit Hub that pocket of constant flow is an echo of its Society it takes on some aspects of the city and Country around it but its people also form an informal group of their own sociologists as you will learn may study these people sociologists may seek to understand how they feel about their trip be it proud or annoyed or just plain exhausted sociologists might study how length of commute relates to job satisfaction or family relationships they may study the ways that conditions of a train station affect attitudes about government or how the difficulty of commuting may lead people to relocate this understanding isn't just a collection of interesting facts it can influence government policy and spending decision employer interventions and healthare practices the work sociologists do to understand our society and the work you will do in learning about it is Meaningful to our lives and our [Music] futures 1.1 what is sociology learning objectives by the end of this section you should be able to explain Concepts Central to Sociology describe how different sociological perspectives have developed what are society and culture sociology is the scientific and systematic study of groups and group interactions societies and social interactions from small and personal groups to very large groups a group of people who live in a defined geographic area who interact with one another and who share a common culture culture is what sociologists call a society sociologists study all aspects and levels of society sociologists working from the micr level study small groups and individual interactions while those using macrolevel analysis look at Trends among and between large groups and societies for example a micro level study might look at the accepted rules of conversation in various groups such as among teenagers or business Professionals in contrast a macro level analysis might research the ways that language use has changed over time or in social media Outlets the term culture refers to the group's shared practices values and beliefs culture encompasses a group's way of life from routine everyday interactions to the most important parts of group members lives it includes everything produced by a society including ining all the social rules sociologists often study culture using the sociological imagination which Pioneer sociologist C wri Mills described as an awareness of the relationship between a person's behavior and experience and The Wider culture that shaped the person's choices and perceptions it's a way of seeing our own and other people's behavior in relationship to history and social structure 1959 one illustration of this is a person's decision to marry in the United States this choice is heavily influenced by individual feelings however the social acceptability of marriage relative to the person's circumstances also plays A Part remember though that culture is a product of the people in a society sociologists take care not to treat the concept of culture as though it were alive and real the error of treating an abstract concept as though it has a real material existence is known as reification son 2013 studying patterns how sociologists view Society all sociologists are interested in the experiences of individuals and how those experiences are shaped by interactions with social groups and Society to a sociologist the personal decisions an individual makes do not exist in a vacuum cultural patterns social forces and influences put pressure on people to select one choice over another sociologists try to identify these General patterns by examining the behavior of large groups of people living in the same society and experiencing the same societal pressures consider the changes in us families the typical family in past decades consisted of married parents living in a home with their unmarried children today the percent of unmarried couples same-sex couples single parent and single adult households is increasing as well as is the number of expanded households in which extended family members such as Grandparents cousins or adult children live together in the family home while 15 million mothers still make up the majority of single parents 3.5 million fathers are also raising their children alone increasingly single people and cohabitating couples are choosing to raise children outside of marriage through surrogates or adoption some sociologists study social facts the laws morals values religious beliefs Customs Fashions rituals and cultural rules that govern social life that may contri contribute to these changes in the family do people in the United States view marriage and family differently over the years do they view them differently than peruvians do employment and economic conditions play a role in families other sociologists are studying the consequences of these new patterns such as the ways children influence and are influenced by them and or the changing needs for Education housing and health care sociologists identify and study patterns related to all kinds of contemporary social issues the stop and frisk policy the emergence of new political factions how Twitter influences everyday communication these are all examples of topics that sociologists might explore studying part and whole how sociologists view social structures a key component of the sociological perspective is the idea that the individual and Society are inseparable it is impossible to study one without the other German sociologist Norbert Elias called the process of simultaneously analyzing the behavior of individuals and the society that shapes that behavior figuration consider religion while people experience religion in a distinctly individual manner religion exists in a larger social context as a social institution for instance an individual's religious practice may be influenced by what government dictates holidays teachers places of worship rituals and so on these influences underscore the important relationship between individual practices of religion and social pressures that influence that religious experience Elias 197 in simpler terms figuration means that as one analyzes the social institutions in a society the individuals using that institution in any fashion need to be figured into the analysis sociology in the real world individual Society connections when sociologist Nathan Kier spoke to his friend Ashley a pseudonym about the move she and her partner had made from an urban center to a small Midwestern town he was curious about how the social pressures placed on a lesbian couple differed from one Community to the other Ashley said that in the city they had been accustomed to getting looks and hearing comments when she and her partner walked hand inand otherwise she felt that they were at least being tolerated there had been little to know outright discrimination things changed when they moved to the small town for her partner's job for the first time Ashley found herself experiencing direct discrimination because of her sexual ual orientation some of it was particularly hurtful landlords would not rent to them Ashley who is a highly trained professional had a great deal of difficulty finding a new job when naan asked Ashley if she and her partner became discouraged or bitter about this new situation Ashley said that rther than letting it get to them they decided to do something about it Ashley approached groups at a local college and several churches in the area together they decided to form the town's first gay straight Alliance I the alliance has worked successfully to educate their Community about same-sex couples it also worked to raise awareness about the kinds of discrimination that Ashley and her partner experienced in the town and how those could be eliminated the alliance has become a strong advocacy group and it is working to attain equal rights for lesbian gay bisexual and transgender or lgbtq individuals kierin observed that this is an excellent example of how negative social forces can result in a positive response from individuals to bring about social change Kier [Music] 2011 1.2 the history of Sociology learning objectives by the end of this section you should be able to explain why sociology emerged when it did describe how sociology became a separate academic discipline for Millennia people have been fascinated by the relationships between individuals and societies many topics studied by ancient philosophers and their desire to describe an ideal Society are still studied in modern sociology including theories of social conflict economics social cohesion and Power in a continued attempt to describe an ideal Society although we are more familiar with Western philosophers like Plato and his student Aristotle Eastern philosophers also thought about socialis issues until recently we have very few texts that are non-religious in nature that theorize about social life from 4th Century through the 19th century the Catholic church was the seed of power from today's turkey in the East to Western and Northern Europe including the British Isles only monks who were charged with rewriting holy texts by hand and the aristocracy were literate moreover the church consolidated power in the year 800 Pope Leo III named Charlemagne the king of Francia today's France Belgium Netherlands and Germany emperor of the Holy Roman Empire giving one individual control over most of Europe doing so gave the Catholic Church the power to maintain its own Traditions Safeguard them from the influence of people practicing other religions if any social patterns challenged any belief of the church Church those practitioners were massacred burned at the stake or labeled Heretics as a result the records that we have are extremely subjective and do not offer an unbiased view of social practice in the 13th century ma Tuan Linn a Chinese historian was the first to record in his seminal encyclopedia titled general study of literary Remains the social dynamic underlying and generating historical development in the 14th century the Tunisian historian IBN calun set the foundation for both modern sociology and economics calun proposed a theory of social conflict and provided a comparison of nomadic and sedentary life an analysis of political economy and a study connecting a tribe's social cohesion to its capacity for power calun often challenged authorities as sociologists continue to study and report on social issues and problems they often find themselves in the center of controversy from 1347 to 1522 the Bubonic plague ravaged Europe killing up to 35% of population the plague dealt a major Blow To The credibility of the Catholic church out of this chaos emerged the work of cernus Galileo Leonardo Newton lineus and other philosophers whose work sometimes contradicted Church teachings events once held to be the product of the Divine hand could be analyzed by human reason and observation and could be explained by scientific testable and retest hypotheses as literacy spread through conquests and colonization more records and literature became available for sociologists and historians to put social puzzles together in the 18th century enlightenment philosophers developed general principles that could be used to explain social life thinkers such as John Lock Francois Marie aray voler Emmanuel K and Thomas Hobbs responded to what they saw as social ills by writing on topics that they hoped would lead to social reform Mary wolston craft 17 1959 to 1797 wrote about women's conditions in society like Harriet Martineau and Jane Adams her Works were long ignored by the male academic structure but since the 1970s woolstone craft has been widely considered the first feminist thinker of consequence ideas about economic systems the family health and hygiene National offense and defense were among the many concerns of social life the early 19th century saw great changes with the Industrial Revolution increased mobility and new kinds of employment it was also a period of increased trade travel and globalization that exposed many people for the first time to societies and cultures other than their own millions of people moved into cities and many people turned away from their traditional religious beliefs ideas spread rapidly groups were created political decisions became public decisions among a new generation of philosophers there were some who believed they could make sense of it all creating a discipline European theorists AUST K 1798 to 1857 the term sociology was first coined in 1780 by the French French essayist Emanuel Joseph C in an unpublished manuscript in 1838 the term was reintroduced by August comp comp originally studied to be an engineer but later became a pupil of social philosopher Claude HRI K de Simon they both thought that social scientists could study Society using the same scientific methods utilized in Natural Sciences compt also believed in the potential of soci scientists to work toward the betterment of society he held that once Scholars identified the laws that govern Society sociologists could address problems such as poor education and poverty compt named the scientific study of social patterns positivism he described his philosophy in a series of books called the course in positive philosophy 1830 to 1842 and a general view of positivism 1848 he believed that revealing the laws by which societies and individuals interact would Usher in a new positivist age of History while the field and its terminology have grown sociologists still believe in the positive impact of their work Harriet Martineau 1802 to 1876 Harriet Martineau introduced sociology to english- speaking Scholars through her translation of comp's writing from French to English she was an early analyst of social practices including economics social class religion suicide government and women's rights her career began with illustrations of political economy a work educating Ordinary People about the principles of economics she later developed the first systematic methodological International comparisons of social institutions in two of her most famous sociological Works Society in America 1837 and retrospect of Western travel 1838 Martino found the workings of capitalism at odds with the professed moral principles of people in the United States she pointed out the faults with the free enterprise system in which workers were exploited and impoverished while business owners became wealthy she further noted that the belief that all are created equal was inconsistent with the lack of women's rights much like Mary wolston craft Martino was often discounted in her own time because academic sociology was a male dominated profession Carl Marx 1818 to 1883 Carl Marx was a German philosopher and Economist in 1848 he and Friedrich Engles co-authored The Communist Manifesto this book is one of the most influential political manuscripts in history it also presents Marx's theory of society which differed from what Kant proposed Marx rejected kant's positivism he believed that societies grew and changed as a result of the struggles of different social classes over the means of production at the time he was developing his theories the Industrial Revolution and the rise of capitalism led to Great disparities in wealth between the owners of the factories and workers capitalism an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of goods and the means to produce them had developed in Many Nations Marx predicted that inequalities of capitalism would become so extreme that workers would eventually Revolt this would lead to the collapse of capitalism which would would be replaced by communism communism is an economic system under which there is no private or corporate ownership everything is owned communally and distributed as needed Marx believed that communism was a more Equitable system than capitalism while his economic predictions did not materialize in the time frame he predicted Marx's idea that social conflict leads to change in society is still one of the major theories used in modern sociology Herbert Spencer 1820 to 1903 in 1873 the English philosopher Herbert Spencer published the study of sociology the first book with the term sociology in the title Spencer rejected much of comp's philosophy as well as Marx's theory of class struggle and his support of Comm communism instead he favored a form of government that allowed Market forces to control capitalism his work influenced many early sociologists including Emil durkheim Spencer using Charles Darwin's work as a comparison said this survival of the fittest which I have here sought to express in mechanical terms is that which Meister Darwin has called natural selection or the preservation of favored races in the struggle for Life the statement is often misinterpreted and adopted by those who believe in the superiority of One race over another gorg siml 1858 to 1918 gorg siml was a German art critic who wrote widely on social and political issues as well siml took an anti-positivism stance and addressed topics such as social conflict the function of money individual ident identity in city life and the European fear of Outsiders much of his work focused on microlevel theories and analyzed the Dynamics of twers and threepers groups his work also emphasized individual culture as the creative capacities of individuals Emil durkheim 1858 to 1917 Emil durkheim helped establish sociology as a formal academic discipline by establishing the first European Department of Sociology at the University of Bordeaux in 1895 and by publishing his rules of the sociological method in 1895 in division of labor in society 1893 durkheim further laid out his theory on how societies transformed from A Primitive State into a capitalist industrial society according to durkheim people rise to their proper levels in society based on Merit durkheim believed that sociologists could study objective social facts he also believed that through such studies it would be possible to determine if a society was healthy or pathological healthy societies were stable while pathological societies experienced a breakdown in social norms in 1897 durkheim attempted to demonstrate the effectiveness of his rules of social research when he published a work titled suicide durkheim examined suicide statistics in different police districts to research differences between Catholic and Protestant communities he attributed the differences to socio religious forces rather than to individual or psychological causes Max Weber 1864 to 1920 prominent sociologist Max vber established a sociology Department in Germany at the Ludwig maximilians University of Munich in 1919 vber wrote on many topics related to Sociology including political change in Russia and social forces that affect Factory workers he is known best for his 1904 book The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism the theory that vber sets forth in this book is still controversial some believe that vber argued that the beliefs of many Protestants especially Calvinists led to the rise of capitalism others interpret it as simply claiming that the ideologies of capitalism and protestantism are complimentary Viber believed that it was difficult if not impossible to use standard scientific methods to accurately predict the behavior of groups as some sociologists hoped to do vber argued that the influence of culture on human behavior had to be taken into account this even applied to the researchers themselves who should be aware of how their own cultural biases could influence their research to deal with this problem vber and vilhelm Dil introduced the concept of veran a German word that means to understand in a deep way in seeking veran outside observers of a social World an entire culture or a small setting attempt to understand it from an Insider's point of view in the nature of social action vber described sociology as striving to interpret the meaning of social action and thereby give a causal explanation of the way in which action proceeds and the effects it produces he and other like-minded sociologists proposed a philosophy of anti-positivism whereby Social researchers would strive for subjectivity as they work to represent social processes cultural norms and societal values this approach led to some research methods whose aim was not to generalize or predict traditional in science but to systematically gain an indepth understanding of social Worlds the different approaches to research based on positivism or anti-positivism are often considered the foundation for the differences found today between Quant itative sociology and qualitative sociology quantitative sociology uses statistical methods such as surveys with large numbers of participants researchers analyze data using statistical techniques to see if they can uncover patterns of human behavior qualitative sociology seeks to understand human behavior by learning about it through in-depth interviews focus groups and Analysis of content sources like books magazines journals and popular media social policy and debate should we raise the minimum wage during his hard-fought 2020 campaign President Joe Biden promised Americans that he would raise the federal minimum wage opponents of raising the minimum wage argue that some workers would get larger paychecks While others would lose their jobs and companies would be less likely to hire new workers because of the increased cost of paying them Biden and other proponents of raising the minimum wage contend that some job loss would be greatly offset by the positive effects on the standard of living of low-wage workers and reducing the income gap between the rich and poor sociologists may consider the minimum wage issue from differing perspectives as well how much of an impact would a minimum wage raise have for a single mother some might study the economic effects such as her ability to pay bills and keep food on the table others might look at how reduced economic stress could improve family relationships some sociologists might research the impact on the status of small business owners these could all be examples of public sociology a branch of Sociology that strives to bring sociological dialogue to public forums the goals of public sociology are to increase understanding of the social factors that underly social problems and assist in finding Solutions according to Michael bowo 2005 the challenge of public sociology is to engage multiple publics multiple ways applying the discipline American theorists and practitioners in the early 1900s sociology reached universities in the United States William suner held the first professorship in sociology Yale University Franklin Giddings was the first full professor of Sociology Columbia University and albian small wrote the first sociology textbook early American soci ologists tested and applied the theories of the Europeans and became leaders in Social research Lester Ward 1841 to 1913 developed social research methods and argued for the use of the scientific method and quantitative data to show the effectiveness of policies in order for sociology to gain respectability in American Academia social researchers understood that they must adopt empirical approaches web duoa 1868 to 1963 William Edward berer web duoa a Harvard trained historian pioneered the use of rigorous empirical methodology into sociology his groundbreaking 1896 to 1897 study of the African-American community in Philadelphia Incorporated hundreds of interviews Dubois conducted in order to document doent the familial and employment structures and assess the chief challenges of the community these new comprehensive research methods stood in stark contrast to the less scientific practices of the time which duoa critiqued as being similar to doing research as if through the window of a moving car his scientific approach became highly influential to entire schools of sociological study and is considered a forerunner to temporary practices additionally duoa 1899 publication provided empirical evidence to challenge pseudo-scientific ideas of biological racism which had been used as justification to oppress people of different races duoa also played a prominent role in the effort to increase rights for black people concerned at the slow pace of progress and advice from some black leaders to be more accommodating of racism duoa became a leader in what would later be known as the Niagara Movement in 1905 he and others drafted a declaration that called for immediate political economic and social equality for African-Americans a few years later he helped found the National Association for the advancement of colored people NAACP and served as its director of Publications thorstein ve 1857 to 1929 after a brief stint as an unemployed college graduate thorstein Vin began to study the economy through a social lens writing about the Leisure Class the business class and other areas that touched on the idea of working itself he researched the chronically unemployed the currently unemployed the working classes and the impact of technology and business within Society Vin is known as a co-founder of the branch or School of institutional economics Jane Adams 1860 to 1935 Jane Adams founded Hull House a center that served needy immigrants through social and educational programs while providing extensive opportunities for sociological research founded in Chicago Adams worked closely with University of Chicago's Chicago School of Sociology this school of thought places much importance on environment in which relationships and behaviors develop research conducted at Hall house informed child labor immigration Healthcare and other areas of public policy Charles Horton kolie 1864 to 1929 Charles Horton posited that individuals compare themselves to others in order to check themselves against social standards and remain part of the group calling this idea the Looking Glass self kie argued that Wheezy ourselves by the reactions of others with whom we interact if someone reacts positively to our Behavior theoretically we will continue that behavior he wrote substantially on what he saw as the order of life in human nature and the social order in 1902 followed by by social organization in 1909 he was very concerned with the increasing individualism and competitiveness of us Society fearing it would disrupt families as primary groups lost their importance George Herbert me 1863 to 1931 George Herbert me was a philosopher and sociologist whose work focused on the ways in which the mind and the self were developed as a result of social processes he argued that how an individual comes to view himself or herself is based to a very large extent on interactions with others though me adopted kou's concept of looking glasses me felt that an individual's reaction to a positive or negative reflection depended on who the other was individuals that had the greatest impact on a person's life were significant others while General ized others were the organized and generalized attitude of a social group me often shares the title of father of symbolic interactionism with kolie and Irving Goffman Robert E Park 1864 to 1944 Robert E Park is best known as the founder of social ecology attached to The Chicago School Park focused on how individuals lived within their environment one of the first soci ologists to focus on ethnic minorities he wrote on the Belgian oppression of the congales when he returned to the US he and Ernest Burgess researched the inner city to show that no matter who lived there social chaos was prevalent as such it was not the residents who caused the chaos but the [Music] environment 1.3 theoretical perspective jectives in sociology learning objectives by the end of this section you should be able to describe the ways that sociological theories are used to explain social institutions differentiate between functionalism conflict theory and symbolic interactionism sociologists study social events interactions and patterns and they develop theories to explain why things work as they do in soci ology a theory is a way to explain different aspects of social interactions and to create a testable proposition called a hypothesis about Society for example although suicide is generally considered an individual phenomenon Emil durkheim was interested in studying the social factors that affect it he studied social solidarity social ties within a group and hypothesized that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religious differences durheim gathered a large amount of data about Europeans and found that Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics his work supports the utility of theory in sociological research theories vary in scope depending on the scale of the issues that they are meant to explain macr level theories relate to large scale issues and large groups of people while micr level theories look at very specific spe ific relationships between individuals or small groups Grand theories attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change sociological theory is constantly evolving and should never be considered complete classic sociological theories are still considered important and current but new sociological theories build upon the work of their predecessors and add to them in sociology a few theories provide broad perspectives that help explain many different aspects of social life and these are called paradigms paradigms are philosophical and theoretical Frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them three paradigms have come to dominate sociological thinking because they provide useful explanations structural function functionalism conflict theory and symbolic interactionism table 1.1 sociological theories or perspectives different sociological perspectives enable sociologists to view social issues through a variety of useful lenses let's explore some examples the sociological theory of structural functionalism utilizes a macro or midlevel of analysis it focuses on the way each part of society functions together to contribute to the functioning of the whole as an analogy consider how each organ Works to keep your body healthy or not this Paradigm might ask questions like how does education work to transmit culture the sociological theory of conflict theory utilizes a macro level of analysis it focuses on the way inequities and inequalities contribute to social political and power differences and how they perpetuate power as an analogy consider a game where the ones with the most toys win and they will change the rules to the games to keep winning this Paradigm might ask questions like does education transmit only the values of the most dominant groups the sociological theory of symbolic interactionism utilizes a micro level of analysis it focuses on the way one-on-one interactions and Communications behave as an analogy consider the question what's it mean to be an X this Paradigm might ask questions like how do students react to cultural messages in school functionalism functionalism also called structural functional Theory sees society as a structure with interrelated Parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that Society functionalism grew out of the writings of English philosopher and biologist Herbert Spencer who saw similarities between society and the human body he argued that just as the various organs of the body work together to keep the body functioning the various parts of society work together to keep Society functioning the parts of society that Spencer referred to were the social institutions or patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs such as Government education family Healthcare religion and the economy Emil durheim applied Spencer's Theory to explain how societies change and survive over time durkheim believed that Society is a complex system of interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability and that Society is held together by shared values languages and symbols he believed that to study Society a sociologist must look Beyond IND individuals to social facts such as laws morals values religious beliefs Customs fashion and rituals which all serve to govern social life Alfred Radcliffe Brown 1881 to 1955 a social Anthropologist defined the function of any recurrent activity as the part it played in Social Life as a whole and therefore the contribution it makes to social stability and continuity in a healthy Society all parts work together to maintain stability a state called dynamic equilibrium by later sociologists such as Parsons 1961 durkheim believed that individuals may make up Society but in order to study Society sociologists have to look Beyond individuals to social facts each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a society for example example one function of a society's laws may be to protect Society from violence while another is to punish criminal Behavior while another is to preserve Public Health another noted structural functionalist Robert meron 1910 to 2003 pointed out that social processes often have many functions manifest functions are the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated while latent functions are the unsought consequences of a social process a manifest function of a college education for example includes gaining knowledge preparing for a career and finding a good job that utilizes that education latent functions of your college Years include meeting new people participating in extracurricular activities or even finding a spouse or partner another latent function of education is creating a hierarchy of employment based on the the level of Education attained latent functions can be beneficial neutral or harmful social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society are called dysfunctions in education examples of dysfunction include getting bad grades truancy dropping out not graduating and not finding suitable employment criticism one criticism of the structural functional theory is that it can't adequately explain social change even though the functions are processes also problematic is the somewhat circular nature of this Theory repetitive Behavior patterns are assumed to have a function yet we profess to know that they have a function only because they are repeated furthermore dysfunctions may continue even though they don't serve a function which seemingly contradicts the basic premise of the theory many sociologists now believe that functionalism is no longer useful as a macro level Theory but that it does serve a useful purpose in some mid-level analyses big picture a global culture sociologists around the world look closely for signs of what would be an unprecedented event the emergence of a global culture in the past Empires such as those that existed in China Europe Africa and Central and South America linked people from many different countries but those people rarely became part of a common culture they lived too far from each other spoke different languages practiced different religions and traded few goods today increases in communication TRL and trade have made the world a much smaller place more and more people are able to communicate with each other instantly wherever they are located by telephone video and text they share movies television shows music games and information over the Internet students can study with teachers and pupils from the other side of the globe governments find it harder to hide conditions inside their countries from the rest of the world sociologists research many different aspects of this potential Global culture some explore the Dynamics involved in the social interactions of global online communities such as when members feel closer kinship to other group members than to people residing in their own countries other sociologists study the impact this growing International culture has on smaller less powerful local cultures yet other researchers explore how International markets and the Outsourcing of Labor impact social inequalities sociology can play a key role in people's abilities to understand the nature of this emerging Global culture and how to respond to it conflict theory conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources this perspective is a macrolevel approach most identified with the writings of German philosopher and Economist Carl Marx who saw society as being made up of individuals in different social classes who must compete for social material and political resources such as food and housing employment education and Leisure Time social institutions like government education and religion reflect this competition in their inherent inequalities and help maintain the unequal social structure some individuals and organizations are able to obtain and keep more resources than others and these winners use their power and influence to maintain social institutions the perpetuation of power results in the perpetuation of Oppression several theorists suggested variations on this basic theme like polish Austrian sociologist Ludwig gwit who expanded on Marx's ideas by arguing that war and Conquest are the bases of civilizations he believed that cultural and ethnic conflicts led to States being identified and defined by a dominant group that had power over other groups German sociologist Max wber agreed with Marx but also believed that in addition to economic inequalities inequalities of political power and social structure cause conflict Weber noted that different groups were affected differently based on education race and gender and that people's reactions to inequality were moderated by class differences and rates of social Mobility as well as by perceptions about the legitimacy of those in power a reader of Marx gorg siml believed believed that conflict can help integrate and stabilize a society he said that the intensity of the conflict varies depending on the emotional involvement of the parties the degree of solidarity within the opposing groups and the clarity and limited nature of the goals siml also showed that groups work to create internal solidarity centralize power and reduce descent the stronger the bond the weaker the Discord resolving conflicts can reduce tension and hostility and can pave the way for future agreements in the 1930s and 1940s German philosophers known as the Frankfurt School developed critical theory as an elaboration on Marxist principles critical theory is an expansion of conflict theory and is broader than just sociology incorporating other social sciences and philosophy a Critic iCal theory is a holistic Theory and attempts to address structural issues causing inequality it must explain what's wrong in current social reality identify the people who can make changes and provide practical goals for social transformation more recently inequality based on gender or race has been explained in a similar Manner and has identified institutionalized power structures that help to maintain inequality between groups Janet Saltzman schaetz 1941 to 2006 presented a model of feminist theory that attempts to explain the forces that maintain gender inequality as well as a theory of how such a system can be changed similarly critical race Theory grew out of a critical analysis of race and racism from a legal point of view critical race Theory looks at structural inequality based on White Privilege and associated wealth power and Prestige criticism just as structural functionalism was criticized for focusing too much on the stability of societies conflict theory has been criticized because it tends to focus on conflict to the exclusion of recognizing stability many social structures are extremely stable or have gradually progressed over time rather than changing abruptly as conflict theory would suggest sociology in the real world farming and lock ofor how sociological perspectives might view food consumption the consumption of food is a commonplace daily occurrence yet it can also be associated with important moments in our lives eating can be an individual or a group action and eating habits and Customs are influenced by our cultures in the context of society our nation's food system is at the core of numerous social movements political issues and economic debates any of these factors might become a topic of sociological study a structural functional approach to the topic of food consumption might analyze the role of the agriculture industry within the nation's economy and how this has changed from the early days of manual labor farming to Modern mechanized production another might study the different functions of processes in food production from farming and harvesting to flashy packaging and mass consumerism a conflict theorist might be interested in the power differentials present in the regulation of food by exploring where people's right to information intersects with corporations drive for profit and how the government mediates those interests or a conflict theorist might examine the power and powerlessness experienced by local farmers versus large farming conglomerates such as the documentary food Inc which depicts as resulting from monsanto's patenting of seed technology another toque of study might be how nutrition varies between different social classes a sociologist viewing food consumption through through a symbolic interactionist lens would be more interested in microlevel topics such as the symbolic use of food in religious rituals or the role it plays in the social interaction of a family dinner this perspective might also explore the interactions among group members who identify themselves based on their sharing a particular diet such as vegetarians people who don't eat meat or locavores people who strive to eat locally produced food symbolic interactionist Theory symbolic interactionism is a micr level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society communication the exchange of meaning through language and symbols is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social worlds theorists Herman and Reynolds 1994 note that this perspective sees people as being active in shaping the social world World rather than simply being acted upon George Herbert me is considered a founder of symbolic interactionism though he never published his work on it me's student Herbert Bloomer coined the term symbolic interactionism and outlined these basic premises humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those things the ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and Society the meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific circumstances if you love books for example a symbolic interactionist might propose that you learn that books are good or important in the interactions you had with family friends school or church maybe your family had a special reading time each week getting your library card was treated as a special event or bedtime stories were associated with warmth and comfort social scientists who apply symbolic interactionist thinking look for patterns of interaction between individuals their studies often involve observation of one-on-one interactions for example while a conflict theorist studying a political protest might focus on class difference a symbolic interactionist would be more interested in how individuals in the protesting group interact as well as the signs and symbols protesters use to communicate their message the focus on the importance of symbols in building a society LED sociologists like Irving gofman 1922 to 1982 to develop a technique called dramaturgical analysis gofman used theater as an analogy for social interaction and recognized that people's interactions showed patterns of cultural scripts he argued that individuals were actors in a play we switched roles sometimes minute to minute for example from student or daughter to dog walker because it can be unclear what part a person may play in a given situation he or she has to improvise his or her role as the situation unfolds studies that use the symbolic interactionist perspective are more likely to use qualitative research methods such as in-depth interviews or participant observ because they seek to understand the symbolic worlds in which research subjects live constructivism is an extension of symbolic interaction Theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be we develop social constructs based on interactions with others and those constructs that last over time are those that have meanings which are widely agreed upon or generally accepted by most within the society this approach is often used to examine what's defined as deviant within a society there is no absolute definition of deviant and different societies have constructed different meanings for deviants as well as associating different behaviors with deviants one situation that illustrates this is what you believe you're to do if you find a wallet in the street in the United States turning the wallet in to local authorities would be considered the appropriate action and to keep the wallet would be seen as deviant in contrast many Eastern societies would consider it much more appropriate to keep the wallet and search for the owner yourself turning it over to someone else even the authorities would be considered deviant Behavior criticism research done from this perspective is often scrutinized because of the difficulty of of remaining objective others criticize the extremely narrow focus on symbolic interaction proponents of course consider this one of its greatest strengths sociological Theory today these three approaches still provide the main Foundation of modern sociological Theory though they have evolved structural functionalism was a dominant Force after World War II and until the 19 1960s and 1970s at that time sociologists began to feel that structural functionalism did not sufficiently explain the rapid social changes happening in the United States at that time the women's movement and the Civil Rights Movement forced academics to develop approaches to study these emerging social practices conflict theory then gained prominence with its emphasis on institutionalized social inequality critical theory and the particular aspects of feminist Theory and critical race Theory focused on creating social change through the application of sociological principles the field saw a renewed emphasis on helping Ordinary People understand sociology principles in the form of public sociology gaining prominence in the wake of me's work in the 192s and 1930s symbolic interactionism declined in influence during the 19 1960s and 1970s only to be revitalized at the turn of the 21st century postmodern social theory developed in the 1980s to look at Society through an entirely new lens by rejecting previous macr level attempts to explain social phenomena its growth and popularity coincides with the rise of constructivist views of symbolic interactionism 1.4 why study sociology learning objectives by the end of this section you should be able to explain why it is worthwhile to study sociology identify ways sociology is applied in the real world when Elizabeth eford tried to enter Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas in September 1957 she was met by an Angry Crowd and was turned away by authorities but she knew she had the law on her side 3 years earlier in the landmark Brown versus the Board of Education decision the US Supreme Court had overturned 21 state laws that allowed black and white people to be taught in separate school systems as long as the school systems were equal the decision was nothing short of momentus not only for education but for a number of other segregation and discrimin mination issues that have lasted into this decade and in that momentous decision the Supreme Court cited the research of the husband and wife team of social scientists Kenneth and M Clark as evidence that segregation generates in minority students a feeling of inferiority in the doll test for example the Clark showed children four dolls two with white skin and yellow hair and two with brown skin and black hair when asked which doll they preferred the majority of black children chose the doll with the light-skinned doll and they assigned positive characteristics to it most of the black children discarded the doll with the brown skin the one that had a closer resemblance to themselves when asked to choose the doll that looked like them many children left the room started to cry and or became depressed the Clark's research contributed to the Supreme Court's conclusion that separate but equal was damaging to students and that separate facilities are unequal sociology and a better Society since it was first founded many people interested in sociology have been driven by the scholarly desire to contribute knowledge to this field While others have seen it as way not only to study Society but also to improve it besides desegregation sociology has played a crucial role in many important social reforms such as equal opportunity for women in the workplace improved treatment for individuals with mental illnesses or learning disabilities increased accessibility and accommodation for people with physical disabilities the right of native populations to preserve their land and culture and prison system reforms the predominant American sociologist the late Peter elberger 1929 2017 in his 1963 book invitation to Sociology a humanistic perspective describes a sociologist as someone concerned with understanding Society in a disciplined way he asserts that sociologists have a natural interest in the Monumental moments of people's lives as well as a fascination with banal everyday occurrences berer also describes the aha moment when a sociological Theory becomes applicable and understood there is a deceptive Simplicity and obviousness about some sociological investigations one reads them nods at The Familiar scene remarks that one has heard all this before and don't people have better things to do than to waste their time on truisms until one is suddenly brought up against an Insight that radically questions everything one had previously assumed about this familiar scene this is the point at which one begins to sense the excitement of Sociology Berg 1963 sociology can be exciting because it teaches people ways to recognize how they fit into the world and how others perceive them looking at themselves in society from a sociological perspective helps people see where they connect to different groups based on the many different ways they classify themselves and how Society classifies them in turn it raises awareness of how those classifications such as economic and Status levels education ethnicity or sexual orientation affect perceptions sociology teaches people not to accept easy explanations it teaches them way to organize their thinking so that they can ask better questions and formulate better answers it makes people more aware that there are many different kinds of people in the world who do not necessarily think the way they do it increases their willingness and ability to try to see the world from other people's perspectives this prepares them to live and work work in an increasingly diverse and integrated World sociology in the workplace employers continue to seek people with what are called transferable skills this means that they want to hire people whose knowledge and education can be applied in a variety of settings and whose skills will contribute to various tasks studying sociology can provide people with this wide knowledge and a skill set that can contribute to many workplaces including an understanding of social systems and large bureaucracies the ability to devise and Carry Out research projects to assess whether a program or policy is working the ability to collect read and analyze statistical information from polls or surveys the ability to recognize important differences in people's social cultural and economic background grounds skills in preparing reports and communicating complex ideas and the capacity for critical thinking about social issues and problems that confront modern society sociology prepares people for a wide variety of careers besides actually conducting social research or training others in the field people who graduate from college with a degree in sociology are hired by government agencies and corporations in Fields such as Social Services counseling for example Family Planning career substance abuse Community planning Health Services marketing market research and Human Resources even a small amount of training in sociology can be an asset in careers like sales public relations journalism teaching Law And Criminal Justice sociology in the real world social networking consequences you've probably heard a cautionary story that goes something like this a high school student spent years working hard engaging in their Community helping others and generally growing into a positive and promising young adult during senior year they start the college application process and after a couple of interviews and other interactions things are looking bright at Several of their top choices but when the time arrives for those fateful notifications about acceptance or rejection the student and their family are shocked Ed to get rejected from all schools but one inquiries from family members and guidance counselors had no results the only news came in the form of a letter three weeks later from the one school that had accepted the student after an initial investigation the university has determined that several posts attributed to you violate our policies and are offensive and troubling the letters remaining two pages detailed the ongoing investigation and outlined the potential outcomes but that one statement said it all the student had posted something offensive on social media and there prospective colleges had found it 2 years earlier at the beginning of sophomore year the student had posted two comments and a meme that mocked a classmate who had been assaulted at a party even thought the student had removed them within a few days the posts lived on in other forms and on a few friends Pages there was also the possibility that someone had screen grabbed them while social media posts are protected forms of speech in relation to the government colleges can review them as they evaluate applicants employers can do the same as can romantic Partners or even volunteer organizations you may believe that a 15-year-old's social media comments should not impact them years later or you may feel that someone who jokes about assault may be a risk to commit a similar act or fail to stop or report one sociologists may consider all of those assumptions and May May seek answers or information through research to uncover the impacts risks Tendencies and outcomes on the different groups involved for example a sociologist might work to discover answers to the following questions is abusive speech or assault less likely to occur at colleges that screen applicants social media posts do sensitivity trainings or cultural competency programs have an effect on online speech do colleges treat all community members equally when they discover someone has posted offensive comments or other content are algorithms and artificial intelligence used to detect problematic comments biased against certain people or communities none of these questions could be answered by a single study or even a group of them but like the Supreme Court's use of M and Kenneth Clark's research College administrators high school counselors and technology companies can use the outcomes of research and Analysis to make decisions or Implement programs this has been introduction to Sociology Third Edition from Open Stacks Open Stacks textbooks and this free audio book are covered under a Creative Commons license the full text is available at www.ops.org this project was made possible by the Los Angeles Harbor College Foundation Los Angeles Harbor College is a public Community College and your gateway to an affordable and outstanding college education you can register for in-person and online courses today by visiting www.c.edu whether you are just starting your college Journey nearing graduation or planning to transfer to a university LC can help you achieve your educational goals you can find this audio book anywhere you listen to podcasts including Spotify YouTube Apple podcast and more instructors can also download a course shell to embed these recordings in canvas courses learn more by visiting www.open audio. us did you find this audiobook helpful if so let us know by leaving a comment and sharing this recording with a colleague or a [Music] friend