SYG1000 Exam One Study Guide Chapter One The sociological imagination o The ability to look beyond the individual as the cause for success and failure and see how one s society influences the outcome Outside forces contribute to someone s situation Concept developed by C Wright Mills o Ex People that are in poor health may not be that way because of their individual choices it may be due to lack of income proper doctors etc 3 major paradigms o Functionalism Society as system of interrelated parts Macro approach Education religion family life work well because there s a balance o If one part fails it will affect the others o Conflict Theory Society is a struggle over scarce resources Groups battle for power Macro approach Not everyone has access to everything The world isn t fair o Wealthy control more vs the poor o Men power over women because they like the privilege o Groups in power want to keep it that way o Symbolic Interactionism Individual interactions between people influence them and can impact society Micro approach individual reactions Symbols thumbs up wave etc 3 paradigm example with Marriage o Functionalism approach marriage brings stability nuclear family breeds normality o Conflict theory approach marriage is a way for men to keep dominance over women patriarchal o Symbolic interactionism approach negative associations with singlehood old cat lady but positive associations with married people 3 paradigm example with Education o Functionalism approach we need waitresses and we need neurosurgeons to balance o Conflict theory approach whites and Asians want to keep power over African o Symbolic interactionism approach positive connotations associated with people who out society Americans the poor etc have a college education Bigger vocab Shows credit to demonstrate your abilities Functionalism Key concepts people o Auguste Comte French philosopher first to use term sociology Strived to discover social laws Statements of fact that are unchanging under given conditions and can be used as ground rules for any study of society o Herbert Spencer social Darwinism Strong societies survive Weak ones become extinct If something doesn t function correctly they or it should not survive This is obviously not true o Homeless people are considered weak ones yet they don t o Emily Durkheim just disappear Solidarity is what holds people together Level of connectedness a person feels to others Mechanical solidarity based on sameness Organic solidarity based on division of labor We feel connected because we depend on one another for survival o Talcot Parsons Social inertia To change society some great force must intervene Ex Families had many kids to tend to the farm until the Industrial Revolution which changed that so parents would invest more money into a less number of children o Robert Merton Manifest and latent functions Manifest expected consequences Latent unexpected consequences All events experience expected and unexpected consequences Ex Parents having less children Manifest functions able to afford to send to college less daycare Latent function not enough younger generation to pay for social security for elderly and not enough to take over elderly s jobs Critiques of functionalism o Accused of supporting the status quo o Societies will find a natural balance but how quickly o Functional for most of society but what about the rest Ex Slavery Conflict Theory Key concepts People o Karl Marx German theorist and social activist Bourgeois company owners vs proletariat hard workers False consciousness idea that proletariats lack the understanding of their position in society Class consciousness proletariats need to understand their true position in society How bad they have it they are exploited Problem what about the people who own small business or managers o Harriet Martineau One of the first female sociologists Cared about inequality o W E B DuBois Credited with initiating the study of race in America Double consciousness How African Americans have two identities in society one as black one as American He suggested going with mainstream o Jane Adams Felt best way to understand the poor was to live among them Applied sociological principles to her endeavors Critiques of Conflict Theory o Too radical some control of power is a good thing o Conflict isn t always a bad thing Symbolic Interactionism Key concepts people o Cat el gato and image of a cat all mean the same thing o Words like negro or oriental no longer are in use because they do not have positive connotations anymore o George Herbert Mead Symbols teach us to understand the world The self identity of yourself Can t understand who you are unless you interact with the symbols and understand it o Herbert Blumer People act towards things based on the meaning they associate to them These meanings arise out of our interactions with others and with society Contagion the rapid irrational mode o Erving Goffman Dramaturgy all of life is like acting perceive us o Howard Becker We always put on a show because we are concerned with how others Labeling theory Labels we ascribe to people influence their behavior Ex An 8 year old steals candy o If told he s a criminal he will act like one o If told it s okay it was a mistake he will take on a good label for himself and behave better Ex We are more polite around adults and parents and may be more open or vulgar around friends Critiques of symbolic interactionism o Ignores social structure o Too focused on the individual Overlapping theories o No theoretical purists o 3 paradigms simplify things but there is much overlap o Consider Max Weber His theories touch in all categories Functionalism bureaucracies societies work smoothly with democracy Conflict theory acknowledges social class conflicts like Karl Marx Symbolic interactionism protestant ethic religious views are important Other Paradigms o Feminist Theory how the social world is ordered around gender Gender Inequality theory how women experience the social world differently than men Non judgmental Gender oppression theory men oppress women and keep power over them by purposeful discrimination Structural Oppression theory women s oppression is rooted in capitalism and patriarchies o Exchange Theory Social experiences are based on costs and rewards Ex Number of children to have costs time rewards love elderly care etc o Environmental Theory Blends social thought with ecological principles Ex Poor people tend to live near
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