Sociology Notes PDF

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Lectures Notes on Socialization, Sociology in Everyday Life, Social Stratification, Social Class in the US, Race and Ethnicity, Families and Education...

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Sociology ● ● ● ● ●

Society has power to guide our thoughts and actions Social facts help the operation of society as a whole Society fulfills the need for social regulation Durkheim’s observation that people with weak social bonds are prone to self-destructive behavior stands as stark evidence of the power of society to shape individual lives Division of Labor o Division of labor, or specialized economic activity, has increased throughout human history o Mechanical solidarity- social bonds based on common sentiment and shared moral values that are common among members of preindustrial societies o Organic solidarity- social bonds based on specialization and interdependence that are strong within industrial societies o The key to change in society is an expanding division of labor, or specialized economic activity. o Traditional societies ▪ People dress the same and everyone does much the same work ▪ These societies are held together by strong moral beliefs, strong and collective conscience

Four Visions of Society: What Holds Societies Together? Gerhard Lenski: A shared culture Karl Marx: Elites force an ‘uneasy peace’ Max Weber: Rational thought, larger scale organizations Emile Durkheim: Specialized division of labor Are Societies Improving? ▪

Gehard Lenski: Modern technology offers expanded human choice but leaves us with new sets of dangers.

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Karl Marx: Social conflict would only end once production of goods and services were taken out of the hands of the capitalists and placed into the hands of all people.

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Max Weber: Saw socialism as a greater evil than capitalism, as large, alienating bureaucracies gain more control over people

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Emile Durkheim: Optimistic about modernity and possibility of more freedom for individuals, but concerned about the dangers of anomic feelings

Chapter 5 What is socialization? A lifelong social process where persons learn their culture and develop personality. Personality- a fairly consistent way of thinking, acting and behaving.

Research on Effects of Social Isolation Effect on nonhuman primates: Harry and Margaret Harlow’s experiments (1962) •Repeated an experiment with an “artificial mother” made of wire mesh, wooden head and nipple.The third time the mother was covered with terry cloth •Six months of complete isolation Effect on children: Anna, Isabelle and Genie •Isabelle found around 1983 at age 6; had intensive learning program by psychologists; by age 14 she was attending sixth grade •Genie was found in 1970 from age 2 to 13 she was kept in a garage; now lives in a home for developmentally disabled adults Summary: •Isolation left children damaged •Success after intensive treatment was related to mental functioning and age at rescue Six Major Theories of Socialization. Sigmund Freud’s Element of Personality •Elements of Personality •Freud believed that personality development is initially driven by instinct or drives rooted in our biology -Personality shaped by two opposed forces •Eros, the life instinct- basic survival pleasure, reproduction and emotional bonding •Thanatos, the death instinct, the goal of life is death- people want to die after experiencing a traumatic incident •Developing personality - The id; human basic drives; present at birth - The ego: person’s conscious effort to balance innate pleasure-seeking drives with demands of society. We can’t have everything we want - The superego: the operation of culture within the individual; tells us why we can’t have everything we want (the power of culture to shape human personality) - The id and superego are in conflict. Ego manages the two.

•Evaluation of Freud - Sublimation- redirects selfish drives into socially acceptable behavior - Freud’s work presents humans in male terms and devalues women - Freud’s theories are also difficult to test scientifically - Freud influenced everyone who later studied human personality, internalization of social norms, and the importance of childhood experience

- For sociologist, we take away that Freud notion that we internalize norms and that childhood experiences have lasting impact on personality. Jean Piaget: Cognitive Development •Studied cognition -How people think and understand •Identified four stages of development - Sensorimotor stage: Sensory contact understanding (less than 2 years) - Preoperational stage: Use of language and other symbols (2 to about 7 years) - Concrete operational stage: Perception of casual connections in surroundings (7 to 11 years) - Formal operational stage: Abstract, critical thinking (about 12 years) •Different from Freud, viewing the mind as active and creating •Piaget showed that human beings’ ability to shape their social world unfolds gradually as the result of biological maturation and social interaction Lawrence Kholberg: Stages of Moral Development •Theorized that moral development comes in stages. Young children make decisions on pain vs. pleasure. Older children learn to internalize cultural norms and values. Adults tend to consider abstract ethical principles such as freedom and justice. •Preconventional(up to about 2 years) -Young children experience the world as pain or pleasure -Rightness amounts to what feels good to the child •Conventional (about 13-18 years) -Teens lose selfishness as they learn to define right and wrong in terms of what pleases others •Parents and conforms to cultural norms •Postconventional -Final stage, considers abstract ethical principles, such as liberty, freedom and justice

Agents of Socialization 1.The Family For most, it is the most important socialization agent of all. ● ●

Nurture in early childhood: the family teaches children skills, values, and beliefs. Not all family learning results from intentional teaching. Race and Class: through the family, parents give a social identity to children. Race affects how we see ourselves and how we see others. Class position affects not just how much parents spend on their children but also what parents expect of them. o Cultural capital- enrichment activities which advances learning and creates a sense of confidence in children that they will succeed later in life.

2. The school

Enlarges children’s social world to include people with different backgrounds from their own. Helps children understand the importance of factors such as race and social position. ● ●

Gender: Schools join with families in socializing children into gender roles. Hidden curriculum: unwritten, unofficial, and unintended lessons, values and perspectives that children learn in school.

3. The peer group ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Definition: a social group whose members have interests, social position and age in common. Unlike the family and the school, a peer group, allows escape of direct adult supervision. Children learn to form relationships of their own. Offer the chance to discuss interests that adults may not share with their children or permit. Peers may affect short-term interests but parents have greater influence on long term goals. Influenced by Anticipatory socialization: learning that helps a person achieve a desired position Help development of sense of self beyond family, shapes attitude and behavior. May highlight differences leading to generation gap

4. The Mass Media ● ● ●

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Mass media are the means for delivering impersonal communications to a vast audience A century ago, families and local communities held the greatest control over the socialization process; today, the mass media rival these other agents of socialization in importance. Introduces people to ideas and images that reflect the larger society and entire world. o 97 percent of households have television o 76 percent of households have a personal computer and 72 percent are connected to the internet. Has an enormous influence on our attitudes and behavior The mass media are national in scope and so they bring rural and and urban culture closer together. The mass media have created a more culturally homogenized society because people in all regions have access to the same media content. Television in the U.S. o Hours of viewing television, about 7.5 hours per day o Adverse effects of extensive viewing; parents don’t regulate what and how many hours of TV watched Television and politics o Some concerns about race and gender inequality in representation and stereotyping. o Some conservative concerns that politically correct media have advanced liberal causes. Violence in mass media o About 2/3 of TV contains violence; characters show no remorse and are not punished o About 2/3 of parents say that they are “very concerned” that their children are exposed to too much media violence.

Socialization and Life Course ●

Each stage of life is linked to the biological process o Childhood(birth to age 12)

Adolescence(the teenage years) emotional and social turmoil Adulthood -Early: 20-40 -Middle: 40-59 concerns over health, career and family o Old age: 60 and over 86% of Americans die after age 55 Elisabeth Kulber-Ross o Death is orderly transition involving 5 distinct stages o o

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Chapter 6: Sociology in Everyday Life Members of Society rely continuously on social structure to make sense of all everyday situations. Social Structure, including status and role, is at work in everyday social situations. Social interaction is the process by which people act and react in relation to others. It is how people make sense out of daily situations. 6.2 State the importance of status to social organization Status – a social position that a person holds that help people build their everyday lives. Status is a part of our social identity and helps define our relationship to others. Status set refers to all the statuses a person holds at a given time. Status sets change over a life course. An ascribed status is a social position a person receives at birth or take on involuntarily later on in life. An achieved status refers to a social position a person take on voluntarily that reflects personal ability and effort. A master status is a status that has a special importance for social identity, often shaping a person’s entire life. For eg. A job or a name.. Bush or Kennedy. A master status can be negative or positive. Negative eg. Ex-convict, people with AIDS, the physically disabled. The fact that all societies limit opportunities of women makes gender a master status. 6.3 State the importance of role to social organization Role – behavior expected of someone who holds a particular status A person who holds a status performs a role(Linton, 1937). Role set- a number of roles attached to a single status. Role conflict- conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses. We experience role conflict when we find ourselves pulled in various directions as we try to respond to the many statuses we hold. Role strain- tension among the roles connected to a single status.

One strategy for minimizing role conflict is separating parts of our lives so that we perform roles for one status at one time and place and carry out roles connected to another status in a completely different setting. Role exit- the process by which people disengage from important social roles. According to Ebaugh, the process begins as people come to doubt their ability to continue in a certain role. As they imagine alternative roles, they ultimately reach a tipping point when they decide to pursue a new life. 6.4 Describe how we construct reality The social construct of reality is the process by which people creatively shape reality through social interaction. This idea is the foundation of the symbolic interaction approach (chapter 1). Because cultural systems are marked by diversity and even outright conflict, reality construction always involves tensions and choices. People build reality from the surrounding culture. The Thomas theorem: Situations that are defined as real are real in their consequences. If you see yourself successful, you will be successful in real life. What does this mean? Although reality is initially ‘soft’ as it is being shaped, it can become ‘hard’ in its effects Ethnomethodology: the study of the way people make sense of their surroundings, their everyday lives. It is a way of becoming more aware of the social world we help create Reality Building: Class and Culture How we act and what we see in our surroundings depends on our interests and social background. People build reality from the surrounding culture. The increasing importance of social media Social media refers to technology that links people in social activity. Computer technology has brought about dramatic changes to the landscape of social interaction. 6.5 Apply Goffman’s analysis to several familiar situations. Dramaturgical analysis – the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance. Dramaturgical analysis offers a fresh look at the concepts of status and role. A status is like a part in the play and a role serves as a script, supplying dialogue and action for the characters. Erving Goffman describes the “presentation of self” as a person’s efforts to create specific impressions in the minds of others. A status is like a part in a play. A role is like a script, supplying dialogue and action for the characters. Nonverbal Communication This is the process of communicating using body movements, gestures and facial expressions rather than speech. People use many parts of the body to convey information through body language. Nonverbal communication is often hard to control and can offer clues to deception. Gender and Performances: Key Elements

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Gender is a central element in personal performances o Demeanor – the way we act and carry ourselves o Use of personal space – the surrounding area over which an individual makes some claim to privacy o Starring, smiling, touching Idealization are performances constructed to idealize our intentions. We try to convince others that what we do reflects ideal cultural standards rather than selfish motives. o Professionals typically idealize their motives for entering their chosen careers o We all use idealization to some degree Embarrassment and Tact o Discomfort following a spoiled performance o Tact is helping someone “save face”, i.e., helping avoid embarrassment. Goffman o Embarrassment is “losing face” o Tact is helping someone “save face”

6.6 Interaction in Everyday Life: Three Applications ●

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Emotions: The social construction of feeling o Happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise o Culture and gender play important role in guiding human emotions ▪

Culture provides rules for displaying emotions

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Culture guides how we value emotions

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In many cultures women are expected to show emotions

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Don’t show emotion on the job

Language: The social construct of gender

Language defines males and females differently in terms of both power and value ●

Language and Power and Value o Men use language to establish control over their surroundings o Men use female pronouns to establish control and ownership o Women often adopt the husband’s surname o U.S. treats as masculine whatever has greater value, force, or significance o Language confers different value on males and females ▪

Feminine terms are more likely to change to negative meanings than masculine terms, i.e king and lord, queen, madam and dame

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Humor arises from the contradictions, ambiguities, and doubtful meanings found in differing definitions of the same situation o Contrasting two realities Humor is unconventional o Include violation of cultural norms o

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Reality play: the social construction of humor

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o Tied to a common culture and does not translate easily “Not getting it” Functions of humor o Humor aids in stress reduction and improved health o Humor acts as a safety valve by expressing opinions on a sensitive topic o Humor provides a way to express an opinion without being serious o Humor is often a sign of real conflict in situations where one or both parties chose not to bring the conflict out in the open

Chapter 10: Social Stratification 10.1 Identify four principles that underlie social stratification. Social stratification, a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy, is based on four principles: 1. Social stratification is a trait of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences. 2. Social stratification carries over from generation to generation. ● ●

Social mobility- a change in position within the social hierarchy. Social mobility may be upward or downward. Horizontally mobility – people switch from one job to another at about the same social level.

3. Social stratification is universal but variable. 4. Social stratification involves not just inequality but beliefs as well. Taking a sociological survey of inequality around the world social stratification is found everywhere, but what exactly is unequal and the degree of inequality differ from society to society. Social inquality is a cultural universal but is also a trait of society. Each society determines what factors are important in creating a hierarchy of social categories. People in hunting and gathering societies have simple technology and produce only what they need for day-to-day life. Because the group’s survival depends on everyone sharing what they have, no one is better off or more important than anyone else in the group. Thus they typically have the least amount of social stratification within their group. 10.2 Apply the concepts of caste, class and meritocracy to societies around the world. ● ● ●

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Closed system – allow for little change in social position (caste systems). Open system – permits much more social mobility (class systems). A caste system – social stratification based on ascription or birth. Eg. o Traditional Indian society, o Agrarian societies o Society of South Africa A class system – social stratification based on both birth and individual achievement. o People who gain schooling and skills may experience social mobility o Class distinctions can often be blurred Meritocracy – social stratification based on personal merit.

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Merit includes a person’s knowledge, abilities and effort. To increase the extent of meritocracy, industrial societies expand equality of opportunity and teach people to expect unequal rewards based on individual performance o A pure meritocracy has never existed, such a system would depend entirely on a person’s ability and effort. Status consistency – the degree of uniformity in a person’s social standing across various dimensions of social inequality. The lines between classes ae much harder to define than the lines that separate castes. The United Kingdom illustrates a mix of caste and meritocracy in class systems. In the aristocratic society of Europe from the Middle Ages, until more recent past, the three “estates consisted of the clergy, the nobility and the commoners. The aristocracy of the that time was a type of caste system. Social stratification in Japan also mixes caste and meritocracy. Around the Russian Revolution, when the state took control of the economy, Soviet officials boasted that they had created the first modern classless society. The Russian Revolution was guided by the ideas of Karl Marc, who believed that private ownership of productive property was the basis of social class. The Soviet Union’s story shows that social inequality involves more than economic resources. Soviet societies did not have the extremes of wealth and poverty found in the United Kingdom Japan and The United Stated. But an elite class existed all the same, based on politica...