Introduction to Sociology

Midterm Study Guide

Part One: Sociology and The Sociological Imagination
Sociology is the scientific study of society, including patterns of
social relationships, social interaction, and culture.
The term sociology was first used by Frenchman Auguste Compte in
the 1830s when he proposed a synthetic science uniting all
knowledge about human activity.
In the academic world, sociology is considered one of the social
sciences.
What are the social sciences?
What are examples of other social sciences?
How does sociology differ from other social sciences?
Sociological questions consider the structural dimension of the issue
and strive to understand the bigger picture.
They seek to link what seems like an individual matter to broader
social and cultural factors.
C. Wright Mills (1959) coined the term the sociological imagination
The first fruit of this imagination and the first lesson of the social
sciences that embodies it is the idea that the individual can
understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by
locating himself within his period, that he can know his own
chances in life only by becoming aware of those of all individuals in
his circumstances. In many ways it is a terrible lesson, in many
ways a magnificent one
The sociological imagination allows us to:
see connections between our personal experience and larger forces
of history.
connect individual circumstances to specific social structures.
understand that even our intensely personal and private
experiences are typical of the social, cultural and historical
context.

Give an example of how your own life is connected to specific social

forces?
What is an example of something that seems personal and private, yet
is actually typical of the time?
4 questions help us to develop a sociological imagination.
How are things that we take to be natural socially constructed?
How is social order possible?
Does the individual matter?
How are the times in which we are living different from the times
that came before?
Think about each question and what it means (look at the PowerPoint
which details how these questions apply to love and marriage).
How do these questions cultivate a sociological way of seeing the
world?
Key Thinkers in Sociology (dont worry too much about dates!)
Auguste Comte (1798-1857): coined the term sociology.
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917): Functionalist theorist.
Karl Marx (1818-1883): Marxist/Conflict theorist.
Max Weber (1864-1920): Symbolic Interactionist theorist.
Neglected Thinkers:
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876): First Woman Sociologist,
proponent of womens rights and the abolition of slavery.
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963): First African American to earn a
doctorate from Harvard. Introduced the concept of double
consciousness as he focused on race-relations in the USA.
Key Theoretical Paradigms:
Symbolic Interactionism:
Is a micro-perspective (focuses on face-to-face interactions)
George Herbert Mead (1863-1931): the importance of language in
shaping the social world.

 Language allows us to have self-awareness, it distinguishes us from

animals.
Emphasizes the role of symbols and language as core elements in
human interaction.
Focuses on symbols where one item stands for or represents
another (for example, a flag symbolizes a nation)
Functionalism:
Is a macro-perspective which focuses on large-scale social systems.
Comte and Durkheim best known for their functionalist perspective.
Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton are other key functionalists.
Emphasizes larger scale structures and processes, focusing on the
functions they perform. For example, the education system helps
society to function by producing educated workers needed for the
economy.
Regard order and consensus as the normal state of society.
Differentiate between manifest functions and latent functions.
Conflict Theory:
Karl Marx most prominent conflict theorist.
Whereas functionalists view society as working harmoniously in a
consensus, Marxists view society in opposite terms.
Conflict among competing interests is the basic animating force of
any society.
Power is of great importance to Marxists.
Those with power have the capacity to make their interests in
society count.
Ideologies are belief systems which serve to justify the interests of
dominant groups.
Interested in social reform and political change.
Feminist Theory:
Similar to Marxists, feminist theorists are interested in bringing
about social change.
See society as benefiting males and view women as a subordinated
class.
Highlight that gender relations and gender inequalities are
important determinants of social life in terms of both social
interaction and social institutions.

How do these theoretical approaches differ from one another?

Apply each approach to the education system. For example,
functionalists would argue that the education system functions for the
good of society. Some of its manifest functions would be that it helps to
educate people so that they can join the workforce (thus it supports
other institutions). A latent function is that it helps to teach kids to be
obedient. Now apply the other approaches.

Methodological Approaches in Sociology:

Sociology began as a very theoretical field but focuses more and
more on evidence.
Scientific activity combines theoretical thinking with empirical data.
Scientific ideas are open to criticism and revision based on new
studies and new data.
Define science. How is sociology a science and how is it similar to,
and how does it differ from, the natural sciences?

Ethnography first hand studies of people using participant

observation. This means that the researcher becomes part of what
she is studying and takes part in group activities, etc.
Surveys Questionnaires administered to a given population.
Life histories study of individual lives based on self-reporting and
documents.
Experiments variables are analyzed in a controlled and systematic
way in an artificial environment.
Comparative research compare research findings from one society
to another.
The Stanford study is an example of what type of methodology?

Part Two: Society and Culture

Society is:

A system of interrelationships that connect individuals.

A group of people who live in a common territory, are subject to a

common system of political authority, and are aware of having a
distinct identity from other groups.
Societies range in size of people: from a few dozen to billions.

What is the relationship between society and culture?

List the main types of society evident in human history and list their
characteristics.

As societies create more reliable food supplies (raising animals,

horticulture, agriculture etc.) and remain in one place for longer,
they also begin to accumulate material possessions.
This increasing complexity gives rise to divisions of labor, and
more inequality.
Traditional societies/Civilizations ruled by Kings and Emperors
conquered and incorporated people other peoples, giving rise to
very powerful Empires.

What type of society shows us that inequality is not a natural fact of

human life?
The Industrial World:

Industrialization: the emergence of machine production based on

the use of power resources (such as steam or electricity).
Many discoveries and inventions in one field lead to more in others,
technological innovation is rapid in industrialized societies.
Nation-States: political communities emerged more clearly with
delimiting borders. Previously frontier borders had been vague when
delineating traditional states.

Culture:

Cultures exist within societies.

Cultures are not self-sufficient and often become defined in relation
to the societal institutions and organizations that exist within them.
Culture gives people meaning.
Culture provides people with language and self-consciousness.

It consists of:

Values: ideas held by individuals or groups about what is desirable,

proper, good, and bad.
Norms: rules of conduct that specify appropriate behavior in a given
range of social situations.
Material Goods: the physical goods that a society creates, which
influences the way people live. A central component of a societys
material culture is technology.
Beliefs: inherent within our norms and our values, beliefs are what
we perceive to be normative and prudent.

What is the difference between a value and a social norm?

Give an example of a value and a norm that it relates to.
Think of an example of contemporary material culture and explore how
it affects society and you.
Explaining Human Behavior: culture and the individual

Sociologists today are fairly agreed that biology and culture interact
in very complex ways.
For example, some differences may exist between male and female
bodies but cultural beliefs exaggerate those differences as men
pump iron and women diet away body mass.
Behavior largely learned through interaction within society and
through exposure to cultural norms, values, and beliefs.

Culture impacts our behavior as it encourages conformity.

Members of a culture learn the norms of their culture from the start
of their lives.
When learning is successful norms become ingrained and they
appear natural and normal.
When someone fails to conform to a social norm, informal and
formal social sanctions are employed to punish the violator.
Informal control: gossiping, dirty looks, ostracism.
Formal control: parking tickets to imprisonment.

Think of a specific social norm that you have learned, and think about
how youve been encouraged to conform through the employment of
social sanctions.
Cultural Diversity

Small societies tend to be culturally uniform.

Large industrial societies are culturally diverse and multicultural.

Subculture refers to a group that has norms and values distinct from
those of the majority.
Structuration: culture affecting the individual, the individual
affecting society.

What subcultures do you belong to, and what is distinctive about their
social norms and values?
Other key terms:

Assimilation: the process by which minority cultures are absorbed

into the mainstream culture (melting pot metaphor).
Multiculturalism: culturally diverse societies where difference is
viewed as enriching and is respected (the salad bowl metaphor).
Interactions with different cultures can lead to culture shock.
Our own cultural practices are naturalized and normalized making
others cultural practices seem strange.
Ethnocentrism: judging of other cultures by our own cultures
values.

Define culture shock.

Identify some cultural universals.
How has globalization affected cultures around the world?
Part Three: Socialization and Social Interaction
Socialization:

The process through which we become human.

It is how we become self-aware, knowledgeable, and skilled in ways
that are consistent with cultural norms, values, and beliefs.
Humans need help to become properly human, which involves
developing a set of values.
Socialization is critical in ensuring social reproduction.

Children learn the ways of their elders, perpetuating their values,

norms, and social practices.

Thus socialization allows for social continuity.

It connects generations to one another.

What do stories about unsocialized children teach us?

Humans become self aware, it distinguishes us from most animals.

We are aware that we have a distinct identity separate from others.
As infants we have no understanding of differences between
humans, material objects, and self.
Young children have no awareness of I, me, and you.
We gradually learn that others have distinct identities,
consciousness, and needs separate from their own.

Theories of Human Development:

Mead:

Infants and young children develop as social beings by imitating the

actions of those around them.
Play, acting out adult roles, etc., are all examples of taking the role
of the other.
Begin to experience themselves as separate agents (a me) by
seeing themselves through the eyes of another.
We achieve self-awareness when we learn to distinguish the me
from the I.
The I is the unsocialized infant all wants and desires.
The me is the social self a human in relation to others.
We develop self-consciousness by coming to see ourselves as others
see us.
8-9 year olds begin to understand the values and mortality that
govern social life. The generalized other are general values and
rules of the culture in which children are developing.

Piaget:

Children are not passive rather they actively select and interpret
what they see, hear, and feel.
Piaget theorized distinct stages of cognitive development during
which children learn to think about themselves and their world.
Each stage involves the acquisition of new skills and builds on
preceding stages.

Identify Piagets different stages of development.

Agents of Socialization:

The family: primary agent of socialization where most children learn

the difference between right and wrong, get their discipline, and
learn their roles and boys and girls, men and women.
Families are diverse: small family units; extended families more
primary in other cultures; single headed households; same sex
parents; employed mothers, etc.

School: the latent functions of a school are many. They teach us to

be obedient, follow rules, be competitive, observe and accept
discipline and authority, provide access to peer groups.
Peer Groups: individuals of a similar age. In some societies peer
groups are formalized as age-grades with ceremonies which mark
transitions. Peers reinforce gender through play, etc. (chase and
kiss, cooties, etc.).
The mass media: significant carrier of values and beliefs and
children are exposed to hours and hours of media a day.

How does the social class of a family affect the content of socialization?
What is the difference between primary and secondary agents of
socialization?
How does the mass media affect gender socialization?
How is gender reproduced through everyday interaction?
Part Four: Deviance and Crime

Sociologically, the word deviance is used to encapsulate a variety of

human behaviors.
Sociologists use the term deviance to refer to any violation of a
social norm
Society is comprised of norms and values and, deviance refers to
an act or a behavior that transgresses a societys norms.
A violation might be something minor such as drinking underage or
it might be something more serious such as the taking of anothers
life; it might be shaving your head or it might be rape.
Crimes refer to actions that contravene laws established by a
political authority.
Deviance is not always criminal, but most crimes are usually
deviant.

Are there exceptions?

Deviant subcultures may hold values distinct from the rest of the
society, but they have their own rules but they also abide by
societal norms much of the time.
A sanction is any reaction from others that is meant to ensure that a
person or group complies with a given norm

Formal Sanctions: applied by a specific group or agency (courts,

prisons, etc).
Informal Sanctions: less organized reactions to non-conformity.

What are some examples of formal and informal sanctions? Link them
to specific examples of rule-breaking.
Why, according to Durkheim, is deviance normal and necessary? And
how are sanctions essential to this?
Snapshot of Crime:

Public tends to focus on violent crimes but they only make up 12.4%
of all crimes.
Victims of violence tend to be young, poor, African American men in
big cities.
Under-reporting of crime: possibly half of all serious crimes are
never reported to the police, and non-serious crimes are even more
underreported.
Crime Victimization Survey: reveals higher crime rates than official
police figures. E.g. only 36% of rapes, 61% of robberies, etc. were
reported to the police.

What does data suggest about the link between crime and gender?
Crimes of the Powerful

White collar crime: tax fraud, antitrust violations, illegal sale

practices, securities and land fraud, embezzlement, the
manufacture or sale of dangerous products, illegal environmental
pollution, theft.
Very little attention is paid to white collar crime. Few people are
prosecuted and few resources are allocated to deal with it.
Corporate crime: offences committed by large corporations.
Pollution, product mislabeling, violations of health and safety
regulations, etc.
Impact far more people than petty offenders and corporate crime is
pervasive and widespread.

Think of an example of a specific white collar crime and a corporate

crime.
Why do criminologists suggest that crimes of the powerful tend to be
more far reaching than other types of crime?

Explaining Crime

Early attempts to explain deviance looked to the physical/biological

features of the individual.
Lombroso: argued that criminal types could be identified by the
shape of their skull.
Believed that criminals were biologically degenerate or defective.
Psychological theories associate criminality with specific personality
traits.

How do biological and psychological differ from sociological theories?

The Sociology of crime and deviance:

Sociology reminds us that deviance and crime are social

constructions. In other words, norms and laws vary from context to
context.
Social power: emphasis on whose rules count? Who makes the rules
and who do they benefit?
Divergences in wealth and power influence criminal opportunities.

How does the study, The Saints and the Roughnecks, show the
importance of power and labeling when it comes to understanding
deviance and crime?
Functionalist Approaches to Crime:

See crime and deviance resulting from structural tensions and a

lack of moral regulation within society.
Durkheim introduced the concept of anomie, which exists when
there are no clear standards to guide behavior.
People feel disorientated and anxious and increases phenomena
such as suicide.

Robert Mertons Strain Theory

Following Durkheim Robert Merton (1957) drew on the concept of

anomie, but adapted it.
Anomie refers to the strain felt by individuals in a society that
places emphasis on material wealth where there are few
opportunities to achieve that wealth.
The American Dream is the belief that if we work hard enough, we
can attain material success.
Structural inequalities limit opportunities for many.

Pressure to succeed legitimately or illegitimately leading to

structural strain.

How does Mertons conception of anomie differ from Durkheims?

According the Merton what are the different ways that people can
respond to structural strain?
Which response is most relevant to the study of crime?
Interactionist Approaches to Crime:
Interactionists ask different sorts of questions and begin by asking how
behaviors come to be defined as deviant and why only certain groups
become deviant.
For example, many behaviors that cause harm are not viewed as
deviant. Why not?
Why are some groups targeted and labeled and what are the
consequences?
Labeling Theory

An approach to the study of deviance that suggests that people

become deviant because of certain labels that are attached to the
behavior by political authorities and others.
Primary deviance: the initial act of transgression.
Secondary deviance: when a person comes to accept the label and
begins to see themselves as a deviant.
Self-fulfilling prophecy: the process of learning to be deviant is
reinforced by the very organizations set up to correct deviant
behavior prisons and correctional institutions.

Differential Association Theory

In a society that contains a variety of sub-cultures, some

environments tend to encourage illegal activities, whereas others do
not.
Criminal behavior is a learned rational response, not psychological
aberration.
Criminal activities are learned in the same way as law abiding ones
and serve the same needs and values

Conflict Approaches to Crime

Argues that deviance is deliberate and often political in response to

inequities in the capitalist system.
New Criminology: analyzes deviance and crime in terms of the
social structure and the preservation of power among the ruling
class.
Laws serve the powerful to maintain their privileged positions.
Argue that laws are not applied evenly across the population.
Inequalities widen using the law as an instrument for the powerful
to maintain order.

How does the Saints and the Roughnecks study bring together
labeling theory and a conflict approach?

Contending with Crime

Little evidence to suggest that imprisoning large numbers of people

or stiffening sentences deters individuals from committing crime.
Sociological Studies have shown that imprisoning people often
makes offenders more hardened criminals.
The harsher and more brutal the conditions the more brutalized
inmates are by the experience.
Understanding the causes of crimes are critical as it gives us clues
as to how society should decrease crime.

Given the sociological explanations weve explored, what are some

alternative ways to prisons to address criminality?