Exam Bring Blue Book Give general description of Durkheim Hobbes on social order Smith on markets Olson collective action Durkheim suicide Compare and contrast Durkheim vs rational choice theory Use one against the other Concise and detailed Choose one aspect and focus on it Relevant details Draw from lecture and readings Discussion Durkheim and suicide 1 Anomie Talk about strengths and weaknesses of these perspectives Not personal evaluation but actual strengths and weaknesses from lecture Know the major names of people but not necessarily the not so important people briefly mentioned in lecture Merton on deviance o Knowing what the norms in general society as well as the specific norms based on scope conditions ie Americans vs American students o When people move from the hierarchy in society specifically in the economy he showed that when the econ is contracting or expanding rapidly suicide goes up o Counterintuitive we think that it only happens when people are getting poorer but in fact it happens in also econ expansion the change is what causes the suicide not the direction of change these people are in a state of normlessness because what they are used to changes so they become unaware of how to act o Argued when norms are clear and when society sets limits to peoples desire puts a ceiling this results in lower rates of deviance in comparison to a society where there is no limit to how rich someone can get The reason because the 2nd situation causes disjuncture between what people want and what they can actually achieve Causes innovation choose alternative means to reach the same end o Rob a bank or other illegal action to become rich rapidly this is why crime rates are higher in US in comparison to India 2 Smith shows that in some kind of conditions when people are only self interested and selfish it produces positive benefits to society as a whole under the condition of competitive and free markets results in econ growth Under the condition of laissez faire o He assumes that you have a state that protects property rights and trade o Guards external threat war with other country and internal threat neighbors stealing your shit 3 Hobbes he argues that absent the state or labiathan the consequences of the rational self interested man will result in negative results for the whole society o Results in war of all against all o The solution Give up some freedom for security 4 Exchange theory power and dependence agency theory o Agency theory is an abstract depiction of relation Features are delegation of authority We elect a politician to act on our behalf o We are principals and we delegate authority to the president o When president doesn t do what he is supposed to do consequences for the principal that delegates the authority How to ensure they will do what they re supposed to Selection of candidate Monitoring surveillance We use positive and negative sanctions o Don t re elect o They force your interests to align with their interests o Exchange theory primarily focuses on small group interaction which is why it is related to power and dependence It adds to the model because it specifies what people want Durkheim social and macro level explanation 5 Biological facts vs psychology o Study of social facts and currents Independent of people prior to people and coercive over their behavior Explaining not why jo robbed a bank but rather the crime rate in US These are social facts that vary in systematic way over time US crime rate is higher than France o Society is different Divorce is much higher NOW than in 1940 o Society must have changed to make this change o Rational theorists always say that its due to micro level what is going on in the head of the individual Durkheim says that its actually 6 Sucide question o Start with defining that it is fundamentally a solidarity issue o Then discuss egoistic suicide solidarity is too low Childless parents Unmarried o Altruistic when solidarity is too high Military Women in tribal society who kill themselves when husband dies Suicide bomber terrorists o Anomic Rapid change leads to suicide coz of state of normlessness 7 Critique of the model of socialization and internalization o People are carriers of their society and they internalize these values so they don t see them as coercive people then become more socialized than they ever were People don t necessarily internalize ALL values they pick and choose and change their minds about these values Critique from RC they don t act on values at all they act on reaction of society because it benefits them in the long run Functionalist argument views people as too socialized and are unable to act Critique that the micro foundation assumptions are misleading Ex In clothing store RC if no one is looking you steal In Durkheiman theory you don t steal because norms in society tells you it s wrong so you wait for clerk and buy items o Change there is no endogenous motor of change o In reality both happen Nothing within the theoretical framework that will tell you what is gonna change They serve a function because they serve a function they continue to exist and reproduce society Closed cycle Change only comes from outside the theory to disrupt the flow of things Theory doesn t specify whats gonna happen to change the things its exogenous The problem when exogenous shocks become more numerous US in 1960 theory cant tell you whats gonna happen or how to react if theyre happening a lot a theory that includes them is needed Therefore edit the theory o Functionalist doesn t account for change Said there are functional alternatives there are 2 institutions that serve the o Merton accounted for change same function Latent function Functions of something that people are not aware of and were not anticipated when the institution was founded o They can cause change through unintended outcome o They can cause conflict because when you construct an institution that s supposed to serve a certain function but then find out that it could serve another function it causes confict Family Role of man vs Woman 50 of population is doing only one job a lot of women not happy therefore change the role of the women therefore conflict arises women movement o It also may cause dysfunction When theories are broadened it becomes impossible to modify the theory Merton s attempt were a ditch attempt to save functionalism because by modifications it suggested that the theory was in trouble 8 Always judge a theory over time