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KrohnSociology 1101January 10, 2014- Rates of suicide amongst teenagers are relatively low (particularly younger teens).This dichotomous with the popular notion that suicide is predominantly a phenomenon of the young. Meanwhile, the surge for middle age people (+48% in the past decade) may be attributable to aging Baby Boomers; the highest rates among the “old old” to the aging population in general and method (&5% suicide among “old old” involve firearms).- By method, 52% of suicides are carried out by firearms, 25% by hanging, 17% bypoisoning (overdosing), 6% other (predominately jumpers). By gender, men are more likely to use firearms and hanging, women more likely to use poison (overdoes). - There were 38,000+ completed suicides in the United States in 2010, more than the amount of people that died in traffic accidents, suicide created more than 1.5 million survivors (i.e family members affected) and there are approximately 465,000 attempted suicides annually (hospital room admissions). Suicide has also been on the increase on the African American population, the middle aged population, and amongst all demographics in the military.- With 88 suicides occurring everyday, suicide is more than a moral crisis; it’s a public health epidemic.Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylPUzxpIBe0What Is A Theoretical Paradigm?Paradigms provide a basic image of society that guides thinking and research. THEORIES, statements of how and why specific acts are related, fall under one of three theoretical paradigms in sociology.Structural-Functional Paradigm: Conservative in nature, this paradigm sees society from a macro-level (broad social structures) as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Focus is on Social Structure (relatively stable pattern of social behavior) and their social functions (consequences for the operation of society) S-F’s basic premise is to focus on how societies stay together (Social Stability) during times of tumultuous change. Major Theorists- Auguste Comte – Founder of Sociology, positivist- Herbert Spencer – Survival of the fittest theory (before Darwin) arguing that “success will come to the most intelligent, ambitious, and productive people whilethose less able will fall behind.” The dominant patterns and structures in any society (culture, religion, government, etc) are reflective of that society’s most dominant and “fittest” members.- Emile Durkheim – Studies of suicide, focusing mainly on social solidarity, how society’s band together and survive times of great change, and looking at social structures and norms that produce this stability. In looking at Deviance, Durkheimargued that crime is “normal.”- Talcott Parsons – Leading proponent of S/F in the United States, viewed society as a living organism and identifying the tasks each must perform in order to survive.- Robert K. Merton – 3 types of social functions Manifest function – Intended consequence Latent function – Unintended consequence Dysfunction function – Undesirable consequenceFunctionalism was the leading and dominant theoretical paradigm from the beginning of sociology until the 1960s. By focusing on social integration and stability, S-F tends to ignore inequalities in society caused by social class, race, ethnicity, gender, etc, which can lead to social conflict.Social-conflict Paradigm: Society from a Marco level, but as an area of inequality that generates social conflict and social change. Conflict sociologists focus on how factors such as social class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age are linked to unequal distribution of societal resources (money, power, education, and prestige), advocate for ways to reduce these inequalities through change. It is proactive as opposed to Functionalwhich is reactive.Major Theorists- Karl Marx – German Sociologist, author of “Communist Manifesto” and “Das Kapital,” believed strongly that merely studying society was not enough, “the philosophers have only interpreted the world, however, the point is to chance it.”- Max Weber – Class conflict is only part of what drives society; religion and politics are also important sources of historical changes. “A dialogue with Marx.”- W.E.B Dubois – Leading African-American Sociologist of 20th century, author of“The Philadelphia Negro” and “ The Souls of Black Folk” predicted that the focusof the 20th century would be “problems of race.”- C. Wright Mills – Sociologist imagination; the power eliteSymbolic-Interaction Paradigm – Society from a Mirco level (face-to-face social interaction); the product of the everyday interactions of individuals. Society amounts to the shared reality that people construct as they interact with another, with “reality” being somewhat subjective. We “construct” our reality and the type of society inwhich we live.Major Theorists- Max Weber – “The need to understand any social situation from the points of view of those involved.” Wrote “The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of Capitalism” and “The Sociology of Religion.”- George Herbert Mead and Charles Horton Cooley – explored personality development , the self, individuals, our personalities are products of Socialization process.- Erving Goffman – “Dramaturgical analysis” explains how we (to borrow from Shakespeare) are all basically actors on a stage, performing various roles before others on a daily, weekly, and throughout our lives basis.- George Homans and Peter Blau – Social Exchange theory argues that interactions between individuals in any situation is guided by what each person stands to gain and lose from the other. Ultimately, we interact based on the “best deal possible” for


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UGA SOCI 1101 - Lecture Note

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