Exam 1 Lecture Notes Sunday March 1 2015 5 39 PM 1 15 15 What is Sociology Study of social structures and how they influence human behavior Sociologists argue human behavior and social phenomena crime marriage divorce inequality are shaped by social structures that limit human behavior limits something that places a barrier in front of doing something i e potential for punishment or making it harder Imagine gov t didn t maintain roads can t get where you need to go Can t get to work school participate in economy Social structures also create opportunities To explain human behavior sociologists have to be able to figure out if explanations are valid Sociology is also a set of methods to figure out if explanations are good Explanations can be on a scale from wrong correct spectrum Social structure can t define it but know it when you see it 2 ways to think about it The way societies are organized to meet the needs of their members All the statuses roles that exist in society and how they re related to each other different ways of saying the same things What does society need to survive regardless of tech gov t etc Food water shelter Way to nurture care for children teach them Laws boundaries rules the society lives by don t need to be written laws must maintain order Reproduction kids have rules for raising them to make sure kids move society forward Healthcare get help if injured sick can be many different ways A way to distribute labor assign jobs roles Not everyone can do the desirable jobs CEO hunter or whatever Do we live in an equal opp Society Make sure there s a group of people w o skills knowledge to do upper jobs so lower jobs are fulfilled Develop beliefs systems system of meaning psychologically people need that Could be religion state belief system i e communism etc Must be able to make decisions Do we go to war how do we fix this problem How does society meet needs i e childcare Generally cared for unpaid in home mom family member dad or pay someone to watch the nugget day care in home babysitter If kids are old enough school 8hrs day 5 days week allows parents to work People who provide child care tend not to make much How do other societies meet their needs Western Europe gives more services and money to families with children In US very little benefits to stay home and raise kids strict time limits How does that social structure shape behavior Our system low income parents are very poor not as independent EU gov t pays someone to watch children while you go out and do human adult things w o a tiny things strapped to you US don t pay maternity or paternity leave don t guarantee jobs back so people don t take leave when they have kids Penalties in the US for taking time off are more likely to affect women cultural expectations Less likely for US parents to have children makes sense but doesn t look that way living in societies w different social structures can affect how you behave In our society childcare home is unpaid outside home costs women paid less and expected to care for kids so Sociology Exm Notes Page 1 In our society childcare home is unpaid outside home costs women paid less and expected to care for kids so many more women stay home to care for kids Puts the women financial disadvantage 2 husbands and dependent Could force women to stay in bad abusive relationships marriages b c of financial reasons 1 20 15 Sociology and social structure shape human behavior Major points from yesterday last class The way our society meets its needs is not natural inevitable or the only way How we meet our needs social structure shapes opportunities and barriers that people have face shapes individual behavior and social outcomes Sociologists argue social structures and outcomes result from limiting free choice not free to choose anything by providing certain kinds of opportunities b c different social groups are located in different places in social structure they face different limits and have differing opportunities Social structures affect different groups differently provides different opportunities barriers Car factory workers v owners interest for both parties is a profitable company Owners don t care where production is as long as you profit overall Workers want manufacturing to stay domestic so they keep their jobs Some groups have greater opportunities and fewer boundaries Public vs private school if you have more can send kids to better schools Different groups under the same social structure behave differently Social structures can be thought of as statuses roles in society and their relationships to one another Manufacturing goes international or could workers could go on strike managers owners don t care Status position in society we all have many of these Role set of expectations that go along with the specific statuses in society Expect X to behave in Y manner mothers have a certain set of expectations different from those associated w father fireman athlete etc Can change over time Peoples goals interests are based in part on the roles they may have Social status statuses can be raked by how desirable they are how much prestige they have i e doctor janitor Based on how we view roles statuses What statuses roles exist in the classroom How do these statuses roles and the physical structure of the classroom affect behavior Roles expected behavior Statuses fr so jr sr professor student tardy kids who sit in back TA Grad student major gender age Physical structure Structure everyone faces forward rather than each other less discussion any discussion based interaction is largely student professor Most communication is instructor student 2nd most is student instructor 3rd most is student student Could lead to differed perception of professors love to hear themselves talk prof just filling a role expected to teach combo of what professor thinks is good teaching and an expectation of the role Student behavior room structured in a way to minimize student speaking other factors could also lead into lack of student response to s Part who you are and part structure that shapes actions Physical structure as social structure Someone decided to build the classroom this way Set up classroom to fit expectations goals If you have 10 000s of students ahem CU and only enough for so many professors you have to use large classrooms with smaller recitations etc Shaped by how we think of education and what the needs are SHAPED SOCIALLY Student instructor behavior affected by