SOC 101 Intro to Socio Notes

7/27/2019 SOC 101 Intro to Socio Notes

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Table of Contents

Week 1 Introduction to Sociology and Methodology ............................................................ ................ 2

Defining Sociology ..................................................................................................... ........................... 2

Conducting Research ........................................................................................................................... 2

Week 2 History of Sociology and Theoretical Perspectives .............................................................. ..... 6

A Brief History of Sociology .................................................................................................................. 6

Theoretical Perspectives ..................................................................... ............................................... 10

Week 3 Components of Culture & Society, Social Structure and Socialization ................................... 12

Components of Culture & Society ........................................................ .............................................. 12

Cultural Unity and Diversity ............................................................................................................... 13

Social Structure ........................................................................ .......................................................... 13

Foundations of Socialization .............................................................................................................. 14

Week 4 Social Groups & Organization and Deviance .......................................................................... 17

Social Groups and Formal Organizations ............................................................................. .............. 17

Deviance and Crime ........................................................................................................................... 19

Week 5 Social Stratification ........................................................ ......................................................... 22

Patterns of Social Stratification ............................................................ .............................................. 22

The American Class System ................................................................. ............................................... 23

Social Mobility ................................................................................................ .................................... 24

Explanations of Social Stratification ................................................................................................... 25

Week 6 Race, Ethnic and Gender Inequality ....................................................................................... 26

Racial and Ethnic Stratification .......................................................................................................... 26

Gender Inequality .............................................................................................................................. 29

Week 7 Social Change ...................................................... ................................................................. ... 31

A World of Change ............................................................................................................................. 31

Collective Behavior............................................................................................................................. 32

Social Movements ................................................................................................................ .............. 33

Week 8 Political and Economic Power ................................................................................................ 35

Power, Authority and the State ......................................................................................................... 35

Legitimacy and Authority ................................................................................................................... 35

Political Power ................................................................................................................................... 36

Economic Power ............................................................. ................................................................. ... 37

The Power of Corporations ................................................................................................................ 37


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Week 1 Introduction to Sociology and Methodology

Defining Sociology

Each of us is a social being. We are born into a social environment; we fully develop intohuman beings in a social environment; and we typically live out our lives in a social

environment. What we think, feel, say and do is shaped by our interactions with other

people. Sociology is the scientific study of these social interactions and of social

organizations.

Sociology is a powerful scientific tool both for acquiring knowledge about ourselves and for

intervening in social affairs to realize various goals.

A basic premise underlying sociology is the notion that only by understanding the society in

which we live can we gain a fuller insight into our lives. This quality of the discipline is called

the sociological imagination or the ability to see our private experiences, personal

difficulties, and achievements as, in part, a reflection of the structural arrangements of

society and the times in which we live.

Microsociology entails the detailed study of what people say, do, and think moment by

moment as they go about their daily lives. It deals with everyday life.

Sociologists also turn an investigative eye upon the bigger picture and study social groups

and societies. This is called macrosociology which focuses on large-scale and long-term

social processes of organizations, institutions, and broad social patterns, including the state,

social class, the family, the economy, culture and society.

Conducting Research

How does a sociologist collect data?

Social scientists look for relationships among variables. A variable is a concept that can take

on different values. An independent variable is one that causes an effect. A dependent

variable is the variable that is affected. The independent (causal) variable proceeds in time

the phenomenon it causes (dependent variable). In their research, the sociologist will

attempt to predict the relationship they will find between the independent and dependent

variable. Such a statement is known as a hypothesis or a proposition that can then be tested

to determine its validity.

Experiments

In an experiment, researchers work with two groups that are made to be identical in all

relevant respects through a process of random assignment. Researchers introduce a change

in one groupthe experimental groupbut not in the other groupthe control group. The


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two groups are identical except for the factor that the researchers introduce in the

experimental group.

Surveys

Survey data is collected in one of two ways. Researchers interview people by reading them

questions from a prepared questionnaire or people can receive a questionnaire in the mail,

fill it out, and return it by mail. Self-reports are the source of data.

Sociologists typically employ either a random sample or a stratified random sample in their

research. In the random sample, the sociologists select subjects on the basis of chance so

that every individual in the population has the same opportunity to be chosen. A stratified

random sample provides greater precision. Researchers divide the population into relevant

categories such as age, race, gender, income, etc., and draw a random sample from each of

the categories.

Observation

Observation becomes a scientific technique when it:

1. Serves a clear research objective2. Is undertaken in a systematic rather than haphazard manner3. Is carefully recorded4. Is related to a broader body of sociological knowledge and theory5. Is subjected to the same checks and controls applied to all types of scientific

evidence

Sociologists typically observe people in one of two ways:

Unobtrusive observation is when they observe the activities of people withoutintruding or participating in the activities.

Participant observation is when sociologists engage in activities with the peoplethat they are studying.

Ethnography is a methodological strategy used to provide descriptions of human societies,

which as a methodology does not prescribe any particular method (e.g. observation,

interview, questionnaire), but instead prescribes the nature of the study (i.e. to describe

people through writing).

IN-CLASS QUESTION: What do you observe when walking down Ledra Street?

Comparative and Historical Research

Archival research refers to the use of existing records that have been produced ormaintained by persons or organizations other than the researcher. Census data, government


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statistics, newspaper reports, books, magazines, personal letters, speeches, folklore, court

records, works of art and the research data of other social scientists are all sources of

archival research.

Steps in the Scientific Method: A Close-Up Look

1. Selecting a Researchable Problem2. Reviewing the Literature3. Formulating a Hypothesis4. Choosing a Research Design5. Collecting the Data6. Analyzing the Data7. Stating Conclusions

Researching Ethics

Though scientific research on human beings is potentially valuable and important, it also can

be dangerous and harmful to the people who are studied. As a result of this, sociologists

have become increasingly sensitive and committed to ethical considerations in their

research.

The American Sociological Associations, for instance, has provided a code of ethics to govern

the behavior of its members. It includes the following principles:

Principle A: Professional Competence

Sociologists strive to maintain the highest levels of competence in their work; they recognize

the limitations of their expertise; and they undertake only those tasks for which they are

qualified by education, training, or experience. They recognize the need for ongoing

education in order to remain professionally competent; and they utilize the appropriate

scientific, professional, technical, and administrative resources needed to ensure

competence in their professional activities. They consult with other professionals when

necessary for the benefit of their students, research participants, and clients.

Principle B: Integrity

Sociologists are honest, fair, and respectful of others in their professional activitiesin

research, teaching, practice, and service. Sociologists do not knowingly act in ways that

jeopardize either their own or others' professional welfare. Sociologists conduct their affairs

in ways that inspire trust and confidence; they do not knowingly make statements that are

false, misleading, or deceptive.


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Principle C: Professional and Scientific Responsibility

Sociologists adhere to the highest scientific and professional standards and accept

responsibility for their work. Sociologists understand that they form a community and show

respect for other sociologists even when they disagree on theoretical, methodological, or

personal approaches to professional activities. Sociologists value the public trust in sociology

and are concerned about their ethical behavior and that of other sociologists that might

compromise that trust. While endeavoring always to be collegial, sociologists must never let

the desire to be collegial outweigh their shared responsibility for ethical behavior. When

appropriate, they consult with colleagues in order to prevent or avoid unethical conduct.

Principle D: Respect for People's Rights, Dignity, and Diversity

Sociologists respect the rights, dignity, and worth of all people. They strive to eliminate bias

in their professional activities, and they do not tolerate any forms of discrimination based onage; gender; race; ethnicity; national origin; religion; sexual orientation; disability; health

conditions; or marital, domestic, or parental status. They are sensitive to cultural, individual,

and role differences in serving, teaching, and studying groups of people with distinctive

characteristics. In all of their work-related activities, sociologists acknowledge the rights of

others to hold values, attitudes, and opinions that differ from their own.

Principle E: Social Responsibility

Sociologists are aware of their professional and scientific responsibility to the communities

and societies in which they live and work. They apply and make public their knowledge in

order to contribute to the public good. When undertaking research, they strive to advance

the science of sociology and to serve the public good.


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Week 2 History of Sociology and Theoretical Perspectives

A Brief History of Sociology

Auguste Comte (1798-1857)

Comte is considered the founder of sociology.

Emphasized that the study of society must be scientific and urged sociologists to use

systematic observation, experimentation and comparative historical analysis.

Divided the study of society into Social Statics and Social Dynamics.

A. Social Statics deals with aspects of social life related to order, stability and socialorganization that allow societies and groups to hold together and endure.

B. Social Dynamics refers to the processes of social life that pattern institutionaldevelopment and have to do with social change.

Established the intellectual foundation for the discipline.

Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)

Published the first book on the methodology of social research, How to Observe Manners

and Morals (1838).

Undertook important comparative studies on stratification systems in the United States and

England.

Ardent defender of womens rights. Compared the position of women in Western societies

to that of the American slaves.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

Compared society to a biological organism and depicted it as a system made up of

interrelated parts. As the human body is made of organs, society is made up of institutions.

Focused heavily on societys structures and the functional contributions these structures

make to its survival.

Birth of the structural-functional theory.

Proposed an evolutionary theory of historical development, one depicting the world as

growing progressively better.


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Applied the concept of survival of the fittest to the social world Social Darwinism.

Sought to demonstrate that government should not interfere with the natural processes

going on in society. People and social patterns that were fit would survive and those that

were unfit would die out.

Most of his research was done at the height of laissez-faire capitalism.

- Individualism- Competition- NoninterventionKarl Marx (1818-1883)

Science also as a tool to transform society. He wanted to change the structure of capitalistinstitutions and to establish new ones in the service of humanity.

Focused his research on economic environments in which societies develop, emphasizing

the current state of their technology and their method of organizing production. At each

stage of history, these factors will determine the group that will dominate society and the

groups that will be the servants.

Class conflict arises within a society between those who own the means of production and

those who do not. Means of production & wealth vs. labor.

Dialectical materialism the idea that development depends on the clash of contradictions

and the subsequent creation of new, more advanced structures. The world is not made up of

static structures but of dynamic processes.

In Marxs view of history, every economic order grows to a state of maximum efficiency; at

the same time, it develops internal contradictions or weaknesses that contribute to its

decay. The roots of a new order begin to take hold of the old order.

Slavery Feudalism Capitalism Socialism Communism

Political ideologies, religion, family organization, education and government make up what

he called the superstructure. This is strongly influenced by the economic base of society

when one class controls the means of production, it determines the other aspects of

institutional life to suit its interests.

Some aspects of the superstructure could however influence the economic base and modify

it revolutionary ideology among the working class leading to mobilization!

Emile Durkheim (1858-1916)


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Criticized Marxs work saying that: 1) Marx put too much emphasis on economic factors and

class struggle and not enough to social solidarity, and; 2) Marx did not recognize the capacity

of modern society to reform itself.

Social integration refers to the density of social relationships or the number of relationships

that exist among a collection of people.

Social integration is necessary for the maintenance of the social order and for the happiness

of individuals. Destruction of social bonds has negative consequences. Examples would be

getting a divorce, breaking up, getting fired or laid off, exiled, etc.

Wrote seminal work The Division of Labor in Society (1893) in which he examined social

solidarity and distinguished between the types of solidarity found in early and modern

societies.

Mechanical Solidarity vs. Organic Solidarity

Believed that the distinctive subject matter of sociology should be the study of Social Facts.

These are aspects of social life that cannot be explained in terms of the biological or mental

characteristics of the individual.

Material Social Facts: society itself, its major institutions (the state, religion, family,

education, etc.) and the various forms that underlie society (housing patterns, crime rate,

population density, etc.)

Nonmaterial Social Facts: Social rules, principles of morality, meanings of symbols and the

shared consciousness resulting of these.

Another seminal work Suicide (1897) collected and analyzed data on suicide. Study

concluded that different suicide rates are the consequence of variations in social solidarity.

Individuals linked to a web of social bonds are less inclined to suicide than individuals who

are weakly integrated into group life.

Max Weber (1864-1920)

Believed that a critical focus for sociology is the study of human subjectivity: the intentions,

values, beliefs and attitudes that underlie peoples behavior.

Also developed the concept of the ideal type. This is a concept constructed by sociologists to

portray the principal characteristics of something they want to study. It is a tool that allows

sociologists to generalize and simplify data by ignoring minor differences in order to

accentuate major similarities. A hotel, a hospital and a police department are not similar but

they share attributes under the heading bureaucracy. If sociologists can determine

through research the main traits of a bureaucracy then they can apply that definition toactual bureaucracies and see why some may deviate from the norm.


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Value-free sociology means that sociologists must not allow their personal biases to affect

the conduct of their scientific research. Need to see facts as they are and not as they might

wish them to be.

Sociology in the USA after World War I

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) founded the National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People (NAACP).

Studied racial inequalities and advocated radical changes to eliminate them. Also performed

investigative fieldwork.

During the 1930s, the Hull House, associated with the University of Chicago, was a

settlement house set up in a poor neighborhood to provide services to the urban poor,

particularly immigrants. Run by women, this group is credited with inventing researchprocedures of community case studies and of demographic mapping.

Contemporary Sociology

1. Critical TheoryGrew out of the dissatisfaction with Marxism. Criticized Marxism because they believed it

denied the importance of culture by viewing it as a part of the superstructure. They argue

that mass culture, something produced by a capitalist media industry, cannot be a true

reflection of peoples tastes, beliefs, values, ideas and lifestyles.

2. FeminismThis branch begins with the observation that women hardly appear in social theory and

research.

Feminism explicitly examines womens roles and experiences in society, working to fully

uncover womens contributions to social life and the nature of the structures and processes

that maintain gender inequality.

Sociological feminism places a lot of emphasis on different forms of oppression, on how

these forms intersect with gender and with each other, on the resulting diversity of

experience, and on the implications such an orientation has for the elimination of all forms

of exploitation and oppression.

3. PostmodernismPostmodernists are deeply distrustful of science and the principle of objectivity, arguing that

scientific knowledge is as much a product of the socially determined interests and biases ofinvestigators as it is of facts, which themselves are products of social processes.


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According to postmodernists, we are entering an age dominated not by economics but by

the production and dissemination of images and information through mass media and

advanced computer technology. If societies are based on ever-changing signs, codes, and

models presented in the media, they have no basic structure so the theories of Max,

Durkheim and Weber cannot be used to explain them.

Theoretical Perspectives

A theoretical perspective provides a set of assumptions, interrelated concepts, and

statements about how various social phenomena are related to one another.

The Structural/Functional Perspective

- Society is a system, a set of elements or components that are related to oneanother in a more or less stable fashion through a period of time.

- Focus on major institutions such as the family, religion, the economy, the stateand education.

- Tendency towards equilibrium or balance among its parts and among the forcesoperating on it. A change to one part subsequently means change and

adaptation to the others.

- Particular attention is paid to the functions performed by the systems parts. Fora system to survive, certain essential tasks must be performed.

- The observed consequences that lessen the adaptation or adjustment of asystem are called dysfunctions. Poverty as an example.

- Manifest functions are those consequences that are intended and recognized bythe participants whereas latent functions are those that are neither intended

nor recognized.

- Functionalists agree that most members of society agree on what is desirable,worthwhile and morale, and what is undesirable, worthless and evil.

- Good theory to provide us with the big picture. However, this theory hasdifficulty dealing with history and processes of social change and disregards

conflict, dissent and instability.

The Conflict Perspective

- Conflict theorists emphasize the processes of change that continually transformsociety with a particular focus on disorder and instability, interests that divide,

and social unity as an illusion resting on coercion.

- The main source of conflict in human societies is scarcity of the resources peoplerequire. Power, the ability to control the behavior of others, even against their

will, determines who will gain and who will lose.

- Society persists because no one conflict can become as great as to tear thesociety apart. Individuals might disagree in one area yet agree on another.


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Overall, though, conflict can be beneficial to society. See for instance the civil

rights movement in the United States.

- This theory has difficulties dealing with aspects of consensus, integration andstability.

The Interactionist Perspective

- Concerned with micro or small-scale aspects of social life.- Society is possible given the ability of human beings to communicate by means

of symbols. A symbol is something that stands for something else, that

something else being its meaning. Hence, social interaction is possible because

people share meanings. This is called symbolic interactionism.

- Three core assumptions to this theory:o We respond to things in our environment on the basis of their meanings.o Meanings emerge from social interactions.o Because we are continually interacting, shared cultural meanings are

continually emerging and changing.

- We experience the world as a constructed reality.- Sociologists must get inside peoples heads and view the world as it is seen,

interpreted, acted upon, and shaped by the people themselves.

- People creatively construct their actions in accordance with the meanings theyattribute to the situation and therefore are likely to shape the social structure.

- Some of its limitations as a theory include: 1) the temptation to conclude thatbecause social reality is constructed, there is no reality independent of social

constructions, and; 2) in their everyday lives, people do not enjoy total flexibility

in shaping their actions and sometimes the role of the structures is downplayed.

Functionalist Conflict Interactionist

Level of Analysis Macro Macro Micro

Nature of Society Set of interacting partsSet of competing

interest groups

Social reality that is created and

recreated in social interaction

Foundations of

Social Interaction

Consensus of shared

beliefs and values

Conflict, coercion and

powerShared meanings

Focus of Study Social orderSocial conflict and

change

Dynamic interplay between the

individual and society

AdvantagesUnderstanding of social

structure and stability

Uncovers historicalprocesses that lead to

social change

Understanding of human beings

as active agents in social life

DisadvantagesIneffective in dealing with

social change

Weak understanding of

social consensus and

stability

Difficulty dealing with social

structure


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Week 3 Components of Culture & Society, Social Structure and

Socialization

Components of Culture & Society

Culture refers to the social heritage of a peoplethose learned patterns for thinking,

feeling, and acting that are transmitted from one generation to the next, including the

embodiment of these patters in material items. It includes both nonmaterial culture

abstract creations like values, beliefs, symbols, norms, customs and institutional

arrangementsand material culturephysical artifacts or objects like stone axes,

computers, loin cloths, tuxedos, cars, paintings, electric guitars, etc.

Society refers to a group of people who live within the same territory and share common

culture.

Simply put, culture has to do with the customs of a people whereas society has to do with

the people who are practicing the customs.

Main Components of Culture

Norms are social rules that specify appropriate and inappropriate behavior in given

situations. Most of these rules deal with matters involving sex, property and safety.

Some norms called mores have greater importance to people and they mete out harsh

punishment to violators. Attached with great moral significance. Murder, rape, treason,

theft, etc.

Other norms called folkways are deemed less important and they exact less stringent

conformity to them. These are essentially customary ways and ordinary conventions by

which people carry out their daily activities. No moral significance attached to folkways.

Other norms (laws) are formalized and are enforced by special political organizations. These

tend to be the result of conscious thought, deliberate planning and formal declaration.

These can be changed more easily than folkways or more.

Values are broad ideas regarding what is desirable, correct and good that most members of

a society share. They are very general and provide us with criteria and conceptions by which

we evaluate people, objects, and events as to their relative worth, merit, beauty or morality.

For the American culture, some of the main values achievement and success, work and

activity, efficiency and practicality, material comfort, individuality, progress, rationality,

patriotism and democracy.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: List as many values, norms, mores and folkways from your own

culture!

Symbols are acts or objects that have come to be socially accepted as standing for

something else. They come to represent other things through the shared understandings

people have.


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For instance, gestures are symbols. Also, flags, musical performances, paintings, religious

icons, badges, etc.

The most important symbol, though, is Language, a socially constructed system of sound

patterns (words and sentences) with specific and arbitrary meanings. Cornerstone of every

culture!

Expressive symbolism:

1. A reflection of society.2. Carries a code that allows people to recreate society from one day (and from one

generation) to the next.

3. The form and content of culture is heavily affected by economic, organizational,legal and technological factors involved with its production. Social structure affects

culture!

Cultural Unity and Diversity

Cultural Universals are patterned and recurrent aspects of life that appear in all known

societies. There are cultural constants livelihood, socializing children, handling grief and

dealing with deviants, among others.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Who can list a few more constants?

Ethnocentrism judging the behavior of other groups by the standards of our own culture.

Ones own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with

reference to it.

Can lead to all sorts of conflicts!

Cultural Relativism is viewing the behavior of a people from the perspective of their own

culture. One does not ask whether a particular trait is moral or immoral but what part it

plays in the life of a people.

Subcultures are groups with distinctive cultural patterns within a society. Can be based on

religion, race, ethnicity, occupation and ages.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Can you give me examples of subcultures in your society?

Counterculture is a subculture whose values, norms and lifestyles are substantially at odds

with those of the larger society.

Social Structure

Social structure is the interweaving of peoples interactions and relationships in more or less

recurrent and stable patterns. Gives us the impression that life is made up of organizationand stability. However, these structures are always undergoing change and improvement.


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Status means a position within a group or society.

Ascribed statuses are statuses assigned to us by our group or by society. For example, age

and gender.

Those statuses we acquire on the basis of individual choice and competition are calledachieved statuses.

Master statuses are a key or core status that carries primary weight in a persons

interactions and relationships with others. For example, age and gender.

Each status carries with it a set of culturally defined rights and duties or roles. These

expectations define the behavior people view as appropriate and inappropriate for the

occupant of a status. The notion of role comes from the theater!

Role performance is the actual behavior of the person who occupies a status. Some

professors, for example, might be late, give little homework but difficult exams, etc., whileothers may act in an opposite way.

A single status may have multiple roles attached to it, this would be a role set.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Please tell me your roles as students.

Each role has at least one reciprocal role attached to it.

Duties are the actions other people can legitimately insist that we perform, and rights are

the actions we can legitimately insist that others perform.

Role conflict results when individuals are confronted with conflicting expectations stemming

from their simultaneous occupancy of two or more statuses.

Role strain occurs when individuals find the expectations of a single role incompatible so

that they have difficulty performing the role.

Statuses and roles are building blocks for more comprehensive social structures such as

groups. Groups are two or more people who are bound together in relatively stable patterns

of social interaction and who share a feeling of unity.

Institutions are the principal social structures that organize, direct and execute the essential

tasks of living. Each institution is built about a standardized solution to a set of problems.

Society Institution Group Role Status

Foundations of Socialization

Socialization is the process of social interaction by which people acquire the knowledge,

attitudes, values and behaviors essential for effective participation in society.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Nature vs. Nurture?

Theories of Socialization


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A. Social Learning Theorya. We are socialized through positive (+) and negative (-) reinforcement by our

parents, friends and society and that we observe and imitate socialized

behavior around us.

b. Conditioning Form of learning in which the consequences of behaviordetermine the probability of its future occurrence. Socialization occurs whena persons behavior is shaped by the reinforcing and punishing activities of

other people and groups.

c. Observational learning through observation, people may learn both acertain mode of behavior and that the behaviors may lead to rewards or

punishment.

B. Cognitive Development Theorya. Socialization depends on a persons ability to understand and interpret the

world, something that happens in various stages.

C. Symbolic Interactionisma. Actions through which people observe, interpret, evaluate, communicate

with, and attempt to control themselves are crucial to socialization. This is

called reflexive behavior.

Main Agents of Socialization

A. FamilyB. Friends & PeersC. SchoolsD.

Mass Media

Communication refers to the process by which people transmit information, ideas, attitudes

and mental states to one another and is made possible by the human ability to create

complex symbol systems including language. Makes socialization possible!

Types of Communication:

A. VerbalB. Non-Verbal

a. Body Language.b. Paralanguage voice pitch, volume, pacing, pauses, sighs.c. Proxemics Way we employ social and personal space.d. Touche. Artifacts

The formation of the selfthe set of concepts we use in defining who we areis key to the

socialization process.

Stages of Socialization

A. Childhooda. Greatest development between the ages of 7 and 8!

B. Adolescencea. Puberty Rites


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C. Young Adulthooda. Higher Education

D. Middle Adulthooda. 30 to 65 years oldb. Revolve around love and work

E. Later Adulthooda. Retiringb. Losing partnerc. Preparing for deathd. Loss of social roles

F. DeathErik Eriksons Eight Stages of Development

Development Stage Psychosocial Crisis Predominant Social Setting Favorable Outcome

1. Infancy Basic trust vs. mistrust Family Child develops trust in him,the parents and the world

2. Early Childhood Autonomy vs. shame, doubt Family Child develops sense of self-control without loss of self-esteem

3. 4-5 Years Initiative vs. guilt Family Child learns to acquiredirection and purpose inactivities

4. 6 Years to Puberty Industry vs. inferiority Neighborhood, school Child acquires a sense ofmastery and competence

5. Adolescence Identity vs. role confusion Peer groups and out-groups Individual develops an egoidentitycoherent sense ofself

6. Young Adult Intimacy vs. isolation Partners in friendship andsex

Individual develops capacity

to work toward a career and

to involve himself in an

extended intimate

relationship

7. Adult Generativity vs. stagnation New family, work Individual becomesconcerned with otherbeyond immediate family

8. Old Age Integrity vs. despair Retirement and impendingdeath

Individual acquires a sense of

satisfaction looking back

upon his or her life


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Week 4 Social Groups & Organization and Deviance

Social Groups and Formal Organizations

Groups provide the structure by which we involve ourselves in the daily affairs of life.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: How many groups can you think of that form a part of your life?

When an association continues long enough for 2 people to become linked together by a

relatively stable set of expectations, it is called a relationship.

There are 2 types of bonds in relationships:

1. Expressive ties are social links formed when we emotionally invest ourselves in andcommit ourselves to other people.

2. Instrumental ties are social links formed when we cooperate with other people toachieve a goal.

Types of Groups

1. Primary group is a small group characterized by intimate, informal interaction.Expressive ties predominate in primary groups. They are more likely to emerge if the

number of people is small enough so that each person can establish a relationship

with each other person, if there is enough face-to-face contact so that people can

exchange ideas and feelings in subtle and personal ways, and if people interact

frequently and continuously enough to deepen their ties with one another. These

groups are critical to socialization.

2. Secondary group entails two or more people who are involved in an impersonalrelationship and have come together for a specific, practical purpose. Instrumental

ties predominate.

3. In Groups is a group with which we identify and to which we belong. These provideus with our social identities.

4. Out Group is a group with which we do not identify and to which we do not belong.IN-CLASS QUESTION: Can you give me examples of Primary Groups, Secondary Groups, In-

Groups and Out Groups?

We all have different reference groupssocial units we use for appraising and shaping

attitudes, feelings and actions.

When the group we belong to does not match our reference group, we may experience

feelings of relative deprivationdiscontent associated with the gap between what we have

and what we believe we should have.

Group Dynamics


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1. Group Sizea. 2 person groups are called dyads.b. 3 person groups are triads. Adding one person to a dyad is far more

consequential than adding one person to any other size group.

c. As groups become larger they become less manageable.2. Leadershipa. Task specialist is devoted to studying the problem and organizing peoples

activity to deal with it.

b. Emotional specialist focuses on overcoming interpersonal problems in thegroup, defusing tensions and promoting solidarity.

c. Style of leadership:i. Authoritarian

ii. Democraticiii. Laissez Faire

3. Social Loafing when individuals work in groups, they work less hard than they dowhen working individually.

4.

Social Dilemma situation in which members of a group are faced with a conflictbetween maximizing their personal interests and maximizing the collective welfare.

a. Free Rider Mechanismb. Prisoners Dilemma

5. Group Thinka decision making process found in highly cohesive groups in whichthe members become so preoccupied with maintaining consensus that their critical

faculties are impaired.

6. Conformity happens because there is a desire to be correct and the desire to beaccepted by the group.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Compete or Cooperate?

Formal Organizations

Formal organizations are groups that are deliberately created for the achievement of specific

objectives.

Types of formal organizations:

1. Voluntary Organizations are associations that members enter and leave freely.2. Coercive Organizations

a. Total Institutions places of residence where individuals are isolatedfrom the rest of society for an appreciable period of time and where

behavior is tightly regimented.

3. Utilitarian Organizations organizations formed for practical reasons.Bureaucracy is a social structure made up of a hierarchy of statuses and roles that is

prescribed by explicit rules and procedures and based on a division of function and

authority.

Characteristics of Bureaucracies (according to Max Weber):

1. Each office or position has clearly defined duties or responsibilities.2. All offices are organized in a hierarchy of authority that takes the shape of a

pyramid.


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3. All activities are governed by a consistent system of abstract rules and regulationsthat define the responsibilities of the various offices and the relationships among

them.

4. All offices carry with them qualifications and are filled on the basis of technicalcompetence, not personal considerations.

5. Incumbents do not own their offices and cannot use offices for personal ends.6. Employment by the organization is defined as a career.7. Administrative decisions, rules, procedures and activities are recorded in written

documents preserved in permanent files.

Problems of Bureaucracies:

1. Oligarchy the concentration of power in the hands of a few individuals who usetheir offices to advance their own fortunes and self-interests.

2. Dysfunctionsa. Relentless growthb.

Trained incapacity unimaginative and mechanical application of rules andprocedures.

3. Idealized Modela. Humans do not only exist for organizations.b. Bureaucracies are not immune to social change.c. Designed for the average person.d. Forms of informal organization emerge within a bureaucracy.

Informal organizations are interpersonal networks and ties that arise in a formal

organization but are not defined or prescribed by it.

Humanizing Bureaucracies:

1. Employee Participation2. Alternative Work Schedules3. Virtual Offices4. Specialized Benefits5. Employee Stock Ownership Plans

Deviance and Crime

Deviance is behavior that is considerable number of people in a society view asreprehensible and beyond the limits of tolerance. Defiant acts vary greatly from time to

time, place to place, and group to group.

Norms usually allow for variantbehavior, new or at least different behavior that falls within

the borders of the acceptable.

Functions of Deviance:

1. Reacting publicly to deviance can promote conformity. Such reactions create acommunity of the good.

2. Because norms are not always clear, each time the members of a group censuresome act as deviance, they highlight and sharpen the contours of a norm.


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3. By directing attention to the deviant, a group may strengthen itself. A shared enemyarouses common sentiments and cements feelings of solidarity.

4. Deviance is a catalyst for change.Social controls are the methods and strategies that regulate behavior within society.

Types of social control processes:

1. Those that lead us to internalize our societys normative expectations.a. Internalization is the process by which individuals incorporate within their

personalities the standards of behavior prevalent within the larger society.

i. The critical steps of internalization are 1) learning what the normsare and 2) learning to believe that the norms are legitimate.

2. Those that structure our world of social experience.a. Societys institutions also shape our experiences.b. If we are locked within the social environment provided by our culture, we

inhabit a somewhat restricted world and it may not occur to us thatalternative standards exist.

3. Those that employ formal and informal social sanctions.a. Formal sanctions stem from the courts, honor systems, etc.b. Informal sanctions are reactions to deviance that occur in small

communities, in groups of friends and in the family.

Theories of Deviance

Why do people violate social rules?

1.

Anomie Theorya. Anomie is a social condition in which people find it difficult to guide theirbehavior by norms that they experience as weak, unclear or conflicting.

b. Structural Strain Theory deviance arises from societal stress and notbeing able to achieve the culturally approved goals by using the

institutionalized means for attainting them. There are five responses to the

ends-means dilemma and four of them are deviant adaptations to

conditions of anomie:

i. Conformity foundation of a stable and properly functioningsociety.

ii. Innovationiii. Ritualism involves losing touch with success goals while abiding

compulsively by the institutionalized means.

iv. Retreatism means dropping out of society.v. Rebellion

2. Cultural Transmission Theorya. Differential association emphasizes the part social interaction plays in

molding peoples attitudes and behavior.

b. Deviance may arise through the processes of socialization.3. Conflict Theory


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a. Stems from the Marxist tradition and in essence says those individualsvictimized by capitalist oppression are driven by their struggle to survive to

commit acts that the ruling class brands as criminal.

b. Alcoholism, drug abuse, mental illness, family violence, prostitution, etc., areproducts of the moral degeneration and estrangement produced by the

oppression and exploitation of the poor, women and minorities.

4. Labeling Theorya. Interested in the process by which some individuals come to be tagged or

labeled as deviants.

b. The badness of an act does not come from its content but from the wayother people define or react to it. Defiance is a matter of social definition.

c. We are all engaged in deviant behaviori. Primary deviance is behavior that violates social norms but usually

goes unnoticed by the agents of social control.

d. Defiance depends on which rules society chooses to enforce, in whichsituations, and with respect to which people.

e. Secondary deviance is behavior individuals adopt in response to thereactions of other individuals.

f. People labeled as deviants are rejected and isolated by law -abidingpeople.

5. Control Theorya. This theory asks why people DO NOT deviate.b. People will conform if their bond to society is strong. This bond has four

parts:

i. Attachmentii.

Involvementiii. Commitment

iv. Beliefc. Most research on control theory focuses on religion, the family and

education.

Crime is an act of deviance that is prohibited by law.

Types of crime:

1. Index Crimes violent crimes against people and property.2. Organized Crime carried out by large-scale bureaucratic organization that provides

illegal goods and services in public demand.

3. White-Collar Crime crime committed by rich people, often in the course ofbusiness activities.

4. Victimless Crime no one involved is considered a victim. Example: gambling.5. High-Technology Crime attempts to commit crime through the use of advanced

electronic media.

Traditional Purposes of Imprisonment:

1. Punishment2. Rehabilitation3. Deterrence4. IncapacitationCapital Punishment is the imposition of the death sentence for a capital offense.


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Week 5 Social Stratification

Patterns of Social Stratification

Social stratification is the term sociologists apply to the ranking or grading of individuals and

groups into hierarchical layers. It represents structured inequality in the allocation of

rewards, privileges and resources. Some individuals, by virtue of their roles or group

memberships, are advantaged, while others are disadvantaged.

Social stratification depends on but is not the same as social differentiation the process

by which a society becomes increasingly specialized over time. Division of functions and

labors over time.

Social differentiation creates a necessary condition for social ranking but it does not create

the ranking itself.

Stratification Systems

1. Open System is one in which people can change their status with relative ease.2. Closed System is one where people have great difficulty in changing their system.

US democracy (opportunity for all based on hard work/merit) vs. Indian caste system

Dimension of Stratification

Marx Social stratification derives from the division between those who own and controlthe crucial means of production and those who have their labor to sell.

Weber Other divisions are present in society independent of the class or economic

aspect. He identified 3 components: 1) class (economic standing); 2) status (prestige), and;

3) party (power).

The economic dimension of stratification consists of wealth (what people own at a particular

point in time) and income (the amount of new money people receive within a given time

interval.)

Prestige involves the social respect, admiration, and recognition associated with a particularsocial status. We seek to give prestige a tangible existence through titles, special seats of

honor, deference rituals, honorary degrees, emblems and displays of leisure and

consumption.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: List status/prestige symbols.

Power refers to the ability of individuals and groups to realize their will in human affairs

even if it involved the resistance of others.


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The American Class System

Is there inequality or not in the US?

Over the past 45 years, the lowest 20% of households in income in the US neverreceived more than 5.2% of aggregate income, while the highest 20% has always

received 40% or more.

In 2001, the top 5% of families received 22.4% of the income, more than 4 timeswhat it would receive if incomes were equal across families.

The top 20% of households in wealth own more than 80% of all wealth. The top 40% of households in wealth own nearly 94% of all the wealth. White households are by far wealthier than African-American and Hispanic ones. For

every dollar owned by a white household, the average African-American receives 16

cents while the Hispanic only 9 cents.

The US compared to the Rest of the World?

Inequality is highest in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Inequality is lowest in the formerly socialist countries of Eastern Europe.

IN-CLASS QUESTIONS: Lets discuss class based inequalities in your countries!

Identifying Social Classes

Different methods to identify classes:

1. Objective sees social class as a statistical category. The categories are formed bysociologists and/or statisticians. People are assigned based on income, occupation

and/or education.

a. ProblemWhat about prestige? How does one measure it?2. Self-Placement people identify the social class to which they think they belong.

Class is viewed as a social category, one in which people group themselves with

others they perceive as sharing certain characteristics in common.

a. ProblemMay represent peoples aspirations and not actual status.3. Reputational this approach views class as a social group, one in which people

share a feeling of oneness and are bound together in relatively stable patters of

interaction.

The Significance of Social Class

Social class determines peoples life chances or the likelihood that individuals and groups

will enjoy desired goods and services, fulfilling experiences, and opportunities for living

healthy and long lives.

Social class also affects peoples style of life or the magnitude and manner of their

consumption of goods and services.

Poverty in the US

Who are the poor?


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Single and divorced parents and their children. Single mothers. Hispanics and African-Americans. Children.

Underclass is a segment of the population, concentrated in the inner city, which arepersistently poor, unemployed and dependent on welfare. Four ways people refer to the

underclass:

1. Income Levels (impoverished underclass)2. Income Sources (jobless underclass)3. Cultural Skills (educational underclass)4. Moral Behaviors (group that deviates from middle-class values and norms)

Theories of Poverty

1. Culture of poverty the poor in class-stratified societies lack effective participationand integration within the larger society. The poor develop feelings of marginality,helplessness, dependence and inferiority. They become self-perpetuating patterns.

Psychological in nature.

2. Situational theory poverty population as a pool, with people flowing in and outbased on adverse effects. People are the victims of their past, their environment,

luck and chance.

3. Structural theory the cyclical movements between economic expansion andcontraction contribute to sharp fluctuations in employment.

Poverty Programs

The US is the only industrialized nation that has no guaranteed income program forfamilies in poverty and no national health program to meet the medical needs of itscitizens.

Social Mobility

Social mobility refers to the shift of individuals or groups from one social status to another. It

can occur in two ways: 1) societies change and alter the division of labor, introducing new

positions, undermining old ones and shifting the allocation of resources, and; 2) shifts occur

in the availability of different types of talent.

Vertical mobility involves movement from one social status to another of higher or lower

rank.

Horizontal mobility entails movement from one social status to another of approximately

equivalent rank.

Intergenerational mobility involves a comparison of the social status of parents and their

children at some point in their respective careers.

Intragenerational mobility entails a comparison of the social status of a person over anextended time period.


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Socioeconomic life cycle is a technique for studying the course of an individuals

occupational status over the life cycle. It involves a sequence of stages that begin with birth

into a family with a specific social status and proceeds through childhood, socialization,

schooling, job seeking, occupational achievement, marriage and the formation and

functioning of a new family unit. Education generally has the greatest influence onoccupational attainment according to studies.

Criticism of the socioeconomic life cycle it is not the case that the job market is fully open

to individuals who acquire positions based on education and ability. Processes for status

attainment are different for, say, African-Americans and women.

Dual Labor Market in which the primary, or core, sector of the economy offers good jobs

and the secondary, or periphery, sector offers bad jobs that provide poor pay, poor

working conditions and little room for advancement. In the US, minorities are mostly

employed in the secondary section. With this in mind, it is important to look at race, class

and gender and how they affect the status attainment process.

Explanations of Social Stratification

The Functionalist Theory of Stratification

Supports social arrangements stating that an unequal distribution of social rewardsis a necessary instrument for getting the essential task of society performed.

Society must motivate people at two levels: 1) it must instill in certain individuals thedesire to fill various positions, and 2) once the individuals are in these positions, it

must instill in them the desire to carry out the appropriate roles. Society must have 1) some kind of rewards that it can use as inducements for its

members, and 2) some way of distributing these rewards among the various

statuses.

The positions most highly rewarded are those that 1) are occupied by the mosttalented or qualified and 2) that are functionally most important. For example,

physicians.

Criticisms:o Sometimes jobs are allocated based on social connections and power.o Social and legal barriers around occupations.o Many positions of high responsibility are not highly rewarded. Compare US

President to a Basketball Player or Television Star.

The Conflict Theory of Stratification

Highly critical of existing social arrangements, viewing social inequality as anexploitative mechanism arising out of a struggle for valued goods and services in

short supply.

Stems from Marxist perspective. Criticisms:

o Ownership of means of production only constitutes one kind of power.


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Week 6 Race, Ethnic and Gender Inequality

Racial and Ethnic Stratification

The concept of race frequently is used to refer to differences among groups in their physicalcharacteristics such as color of their skin, texture of their hair, facial features, stature and

the shape of their heads.

However, for sociologists race is a social construct. A race is a group of people who see

themselves and are seen by others as having hereditary traits that set them apart.

Racism exists at two levels:

1. Individual racism is the belief that some racial groups are naturally superiorand others are inferior.

2. Institutional racism involves discriminatory policies and practices that resultin unequal outcomes for members of different racial groups.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: How does racism in Cyprus compare to that of your home country?

Have you experienced racism in Cyprus or elsewhere?

Ethnic groups are groups that people identify with chiefly on cultural groundslanguage,

folk practices, dress, gestures, mannerisms or religion. Ethnic groups also have a sense of

shared history and shared fate that can draw people together into a powerful social unit.

A minority group is a racially and culturally self-conscious population, with hereditary

membership and a high degree of in-group marriage, which suffers oppression at the hands

of a dominant group.

Minority groups have five characteristics:

1. A social group whose members experience discrimination, segregation, oppressionor persecution at the hand of another social group (the dominant group) and lack

access to power necessary to change their situation.

2. Characterized by physical and cultural traits that distinguish it from the dominantgroup.

3. It is a self-conscious social group characterized by a consciousness of oneness.4. Non-voluntary membership.5. The members of a minority (by choice or necessity) often marry within their own

group.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: What are some of the minority groups in your country?

Prejudice refers to attitudes of aversion and hostility toward the members of a group simply

because they belong to it and hence are presumed to have the objectionable qualities

ascribed to it. Prejudice is essentially a state of mind.

Three components to racial prejudice:

1. A cognitive component that provides a description of members of the target group,often including negative stereotypes.

2. An affective component that involves negative reactions and emotional feelingsabout the group.


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3. A behavioral component that may include the tendency to discriminate or behavenegatively toward members of the group.

Why are people prejudiced toward members of other groups?

Two explanations:1. Social psychology theories claim that prejudice stems from social interaction

a. Frustration-aggression theory claims prejudice is a form of scapegoating.b. Authoritarian personality theory argues that prejudice emerges out of strict

child-rearing practices that result in people valuing obedience to authority

and desiring to dominate others.

c. Socialization theory argues that prejudiced attitudes are part of the culturethat people internalize during socialization by parents, friends and

associates and whose messages are reinforced in school and stereotypes in

the media.

2. Social structure theories claim that prejudice is a cultural mechanism emerging outof conflict and competition between groups and that it can be an important factorfor a single group to achieve and maintain dominance. They argue that as positions

of groups change in society, the content of prejudices will change too.

a. Realistic group-conflict theory argues that when interests of two groupsdiverge, prejudice attitudes will result. When they converge, intergroup

attitudes will be positive.

b. Sense of group position theory states that prejudice stems from peoplesperceptions of the position of their group relative to other groups.

Discrimination is a process in which members of one or more groups or categories in society

are denied the privileges, prestige, power, legal rights, equal protection of the law, and

other societal benefits that are available to members of other groups.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Examples of Prejudice and Discrimination!

Institutional discrimination is when institutions of a society function in such a way that they

produce unequal results for different groups.

Gate keeping is the decision-making process whereby people are admitted tooffices and positions of privilege, prestige and power within a society.

Environmental racism is the practice of placing hazardous waste facilities andother dangerous buildings in or next to minority communities.

Assimilation and Pluralism

Assimilation refers to the processes whereby groups with distinctive identities become

socially and culturally fused.

1. Melting Pot assimilation as a process whereby peoples and cultures wouldproduce a new people and civilization.

2. Anglo-Saxon Pattern American culture as a finished product and immigrantsmust give up their traits for those of the dominant group


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Acculturation is when the cultural traits of one group change in the direction of another

group. To a certain degree, acculturation is a two-way street.

Integration (or structural assimilation) is when members of different ethnic groups

participate with one another in the major institutional structures of society. Generally occurs

at work and school.

Acculturation Integration Amalgamation

Pluralism is a situation in which diverse groups coexist and boundaries between them are

maintained. It might be perpetuated because minority groups do not wish to be assimilated,

valuing their separate identities and customs.

Equalitarian pluralism cultural identity and group boundaries are maintained butethnic groups members participate freely and equally in political and economic

institutions.

Inequalitarian pluralism ethnic group distinctiveness is maintained but economicand political participation of minority groups is severely limited by the dominantgroup.

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial or ethnic group. This is

an example of an inequalitarian policy at its extreme.

Sociological Perspectives on Inequalities of Race and Ethnicity

The Functionalist Perspective

1. Ethnic differentiation might be dysfunctional because it reduces consensus,increases the chance of conflict and threatens equilibrium in society.2. However, ethnic differentiation has some functions in society:

a. Conflict promotes group formation and groups are building blocks of society.b. Promotes group cohesion.c. May serve as a safety valve for society as a whole by channeling

hostilities from within family, work and other crucial settings onto

permissible targets, stability of existing social structures is maintained. This

is known as the scapegoating mechanism.

d. Conducive to democracy.The Conflict Perspective1. Ethnocentrism when people perceive that their group can realize its goals at the

expense of another one, tensions will rise, each group will see the other as a threat,

and prejudicial attitudes will be generated toward the out group.

2. Competition ethnocentrism channels competition through ethnic and racial lines.3. Unequal Power necessary to translate prejudice into discrimination; it is the

mechanism by which domination and subjugation are achieved.


1. Ethnicity arises when communication channels between groups are limited and thedifferent groups develop different systems of meanings.


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2. The more a group uses a single communication channel, the more isolated it is andthe more it tends to view the other groups from the perspective of its own system of

meaning.

3. Causes of ethnic conflict and stratification are to be found in the social definitionsgroups have of each other and in the norms and patterns of interaction that

perpetuate these definitions.

Gender Inequality

Defining some basic terms:

Sex refers to whether one is genetically male or female and determines thebiological role that one will play in reproduction.

Gender is a form of social differentiation; it refers to the sociocultural distinctionbetween males and females.

Gender identities are the conceptions we have of ourselves as being male or female. Gender roles are sets of cultural expectations that define the ways in which the

members of each sex should behave.

Sexism is gender inequality and it operates on two levels:

1. Individual level a) because of inherent biological differences, men and womenare naturally suited to different roles, and; b) that this is the primary cause of

the differential distribution of status, power and income by gender.

2. Institutional level sexism involves policies, procedures and practices thatproduce unequal outcomes for men and women.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Have you experienced sexism in Cyprus or elsewhere?

Patriarchy is a system of social organization in which men have a disproportionate share of

power.

Forms of Gender Inequality throughout the World

Domestic violence Women trafficking Honor killings Unemployment Pregnancy-related problems Preference for boys Female genital mutilation Rape Transmission of STDs to young women by older men Illiteracy

Sources of Gender Differences

Great variation in the gender roles of men and women from one society to another point to

a social foundation for most of these differences. Gender roles are largely a matter of social

definition and socially constructed meanings.


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Gender Identities?

1. Freudian Explanations gender identity and the adoption of sex-typed behaviors arethe result of a conflict that emerges between the ages of 3 and 6. During these ages,

children discover the genital differences between sexes. This discovery prompts

children to see themselves as rivals of their same-sex parents for the affection of the

parent of the other sex. Such feelings and desires give rise to anxiety which is

resolved by children identifying with the parent of the same sex.

2. Cultural Transmission Theory the acquisition of gender identities stems from agradual process of learning that begins in infancy. Older people reinforce responses

that are deemed appropriate to the childs gender role and discourage inappropriate

ones.

3. Cognitive-Development Theory children actively seek to acquire gender identitiesand roles. Children label themselves as boys or girls between the ages of 1.5 and 3.Once they have done this, they adopt behaviors consistent with their newly

discovered status. This is called self-socialization.

Sociological Perspectives on Gender Stratification

The Functionalist Perspective

1. Division of labor between men and women arose because of womans role inreproduction.

2. It is functional and beneficial for society if males play instrumental, goal-orientedroles and females play expressive roles, supporting husbands and nurturing children.

The Conflict Perspective

1. Sexual division of labor as a social vehicle devised by men to ensure for themselvesprivilege, prestige and power in their relationship with women.


1. Gender as socially constructed a product of sociocultural processes involvingsymbols and meanings.

2. Cultural meanings are continuously emerging and changing through socialinteraction.

3. People can intentionally change the structure of gender differentiation andinequality by changing the underlying meanings.


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Week 7 Social Change

A World of Change

Social change is fundamental alterations in the patterns of culture, structure and socialbehavior over time.

Sources of Social Change

A. Physical EnvironmentB. PopulationC. Clashes over Resources and ValuesD. Supporting Values and NormsE. Innovation

a. Discovery represents an addition to knowledge.b. Invention uses existing knowledge in a new and creative way.

F. Diffusion, which is the process by which cultural traits spread from one social unit toanother.

G. Mass MediaPerspectives on Social Change

A. Evolutionary Perspectivesa. Social Darwinism/Unilinear Evolutionb. Multilinear change does not necessarily imply progress, change occurs in

quite different ways, and change proceeds in many different directions.

B. Cyclical Perspectivesa. Focus on the rise and fall of civilizations.b. Compare societies to study the stages of growth and decline.

C. Functionalist Perspectivesa. A society in equilibrium adjusts itself to changes and accommodates them

within the functioning structure and finds a new level of equilibrium.

D. Conflict Perspectivesa. Tensions between groups are the source of social change.

Social Change in Developing Nations

A. Modernization describes the process by which a society moves from traditional orpreindustrial social and economic arrangements to those characteristic of industrial

societies. Societies become increasingly urban, industry is greater than agriculture,

population increases in size and density, and the knowledge base expands. Good

examples of societies that have gone through this process are Singapore and South

Korea.

B. World System or Dependency sees the social structures of developing nations asshaped by the historical experience of colonialism, the timing and manner of theirincorporation into the global capitalist economy, and the continuation of their


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dependency through political domination, multinational corporations, and

unfavorable exchange rates. Main examples are Latin America and Africa.

Collective Behavior

Collective behavior are ways of thinking, feeling and acting that develop among a large

number of people and that are relatively spontaneous and unstructured.

Varieties of Collective Behavior

A. Rumor is a difficult-to-verify piece of information transmitted from person to personin relatively rapid fashion.

B. Fashion is a folkway that lasts for a short time and enjoys widespread acceptancewithin society. Fad is a folkway that lasts for a short time and enjoys acceptance

among only a segment of the population.C. Mass Hysteria refers to the rapid spread of behaviors involving contagious anxiety,

usually associated with a mysterious force. Usually a response to a lot of stress.

D. Panic involves irrational and uncoordinated but collective actions among peoplecreated by the presence of an immediate, severe threat.

E. Crowd is one of the most familiar and at times spectacular forms of collectivebehavior. It is a temporary, relatively unorganized gathering of people in close

physical proximity.

a. Casual Crowd is a collection of people who have little in common exceptthat they are viewing a common event.

b. Conventional Crowd entails a number of people who have assembled forsome specific purpose and who typically act in accordance with establishednorms.

c. Expressive Crowd is a group of people who have come together for self-stimulation and personal gratification.

d. Acting Crowd is an excited, volatile group of people who are engaged inrioting, looting and other aggressive behavior.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Give me examples of the four types of crowds!

Preconditions for Collective Behavior

Episodes of collective behavior are products of six determinants:

1. Structural Conduciveness consists of the social conditions that permit a particularvariety of collective behavior to occur.

2. Structural Strain occurs when important aspects of a social system are out of place.3. The growth of a generalized belief.4. Precipitating factors or some sort of event that will trigger collective action.5. Mobilization of participating for action.6. Operation of social control these attempt to prevent, interrupt or weaken the

previous five factors.


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Explanations of Crowd Behavior

A. Contagion Theory emphasizes the part that rapidly communicated and uncriticallyaccepted feelings, attitudes and actions play in crowd settings. Unanimity prevails in

the crowds.

B. Convergence Theory suggests that a crowd consists of a highly unrepresentativebody of people who assemble because they share the same predispositions.C. Emergent-Norm Theory stressed the lack of unanimity in crowd situations and

differences in motives, attitudes and actions that define the crowd.

Social Movements

Social movement is a more-or-less persistent and organized effort on the part of a relatively

large group of people to bring about or resist change.

Causes of Social Movements

1. Deprivation Approaches2. Resource Mobilization

Types of Social Movements

Ideology is crucial to a social movement. It is a set of ideas that provides individuals with

conceptions of the social movements purposes, its rationale for existence, its indictment of

existing conditions or arrangements, and its design for action.

1. Revolutionary Movements fight for the replacement of the existing value scheme.2. Reform Movements pursue changes that will implement the existing value scheme

more adequately.

3. Resistance Movements arise not only for the purpose of institutional change butalso to block change or to eliminate a previously instituted change.

4. Expressive Movements are less concerned with institutional change than withrenovating or renewing people from within.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Give me examples of the types of social movements listed above!

Social Revolution involves the overthrow of a societys state and class structures and the

creation of new social arrangements.

Conditions for social revolution include:

i. Good deal of power concentrated in the state.ii. Military allegiance to the established regime is weakened.iii. Political crises weaken the established regime and lead to the collapse of the

state apparatus.


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iv. Substantial segment of the population must mobilize in uprisings that bringnew elite to power.


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Week 8 Political and Economic Power

Power, Authority and the State

The state as a political institution is an arrangement that consists of people who exercise aneffective monopoly in the use of physical coercion within a given territory.

The state rests on force or power whose basis is the threat or application of punishment.

Sociological Perspectives on the State

1. Functionalist Perspectivea. State arose to maintain order and provide for the common good.b. Take care of planning & direction through the establishment of laws.c. Enforce the laws.d. Arbitration of conflict of interests.e. Protection against other societies through war and diplomacy.

2. Conflict Perspectivea. State as a vehicle by which one or more groups impose their values and

stratification system upon other groups.

b. State as instrument of violence and oppression.c. Enforce the unequal distribution of social and material rewards in order to

preserve the position of the privileged group(s).

d. Colonial powers.

Legitimacy and Authority

There is an important distinction between power that is legitimate and power that is

illegitimate. Legitimate power is authority.

When leaders possess authority, they have a recognized and established right to give orders,

determine policies, pronounce judgments, settle controversies and act as leaders.

Max Weber suggests a threefold classification of authority based on the manner in which

the power is socially legitimated:

1. Traditional authority or power legitimated by the sanctity of age-old customs. Forexample, the divine right of Kings and inherited power.

2. Legal-Rational Authority or power legitimated by explicit rules and rationalprocedures that define the rights and duties of the occupants of given positions.

3. Charismatic Authority or power legitimated by the extraordinary superhuman orsupernatural attributes people grant to a leader.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Provide examples of each kind of authority!


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Political Power

Politics refers to the process by which people and groups acquire and exercise power.

When power is organized and wielded by the state, it is political power.

Types of Government

Government entails those political processes that have to do with the authoritative

formulating of rules and policies that are binding and pervasive throughout a society.

1. Totalitarianism is a total state, one in which the government undertakes tocontrol all parts of the society and all aspects of social life. Major prototypes are

Hitlers Nazi Germany and Stalins Russia. Three main characteristics:

a. Monolithic political partyb. Compelling ideologyc. Pervasive social control

2. Authoritarianism is a political system in which the government tolerated little or noopposition to its rule but permits nongovernmental centers of influence and allows

debate on some issues of public policy.

3. Democracy is a political system in which the powers of government derive from theconsent of the governed and in which regular constitutional avenues exist for

changing government officials. Arrangement that:

a. Permits the population a significant voice in decision making through thepeoples right to choose among contenders for political office

b. Allows for broad, relatively equal citizenship among the populacec. Affords the citizenry protection from arbitrary state action.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Provide examples of each type of government!

What factors promote Democracy?

Interest groups are organizations of people who share common concerns or points of view.

Each group is limited in influence because officials must also take into account the points of

view of other groups.

Civil society is a social realm of mediating groups, networks and institutions that sustains the

public life outside the worlds of the state and the economy.

Political parties are organizations designed to gain control of the government by putting its

people in public office. Serve as intermediaries between people and the government.

Mass media consists of organizations (newspapers, magazines, television, radio, the Internet

and motion pictures) whose job is to pass on information to a large segment of the public.


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Economic Power

Types of Economic Systems

Socialist Economy the government directly controls the economy, in many cases setting

prices and wages and deciding what will be produced.

Command Economy the state or central planning authority determines the itemsthat will be produced and their quantities.

Capitalist Economy the government oversees and sets parameters for the economy, but in

many ways leaves the economy alone, allowing the market to decide what the economy will

do.

Market Economy decisions about what will be produced, how much will beproduced, and what products cost are made in economic transactions between

consumers and producers.

Mixed Economies economies that include elements of both command and market

economies. For example, democratic socialism in which production is privately owned but

there is a large public sector with publicly owned enterprises involved in public

transportation, healthcare, air travel, mining, oil production, education, utilities, etc.

IN-CLASS QUESTION: Which type of economy is better? Why?

The Power of Corporations

Oligopoly is a market dominated by a few firms. Examples?

Multinational corporations are firms that have their central office in one country and

subsidiaries in other countries. Participating in the division of labor of the world economy

into core regions (geographical areas that dominate the world economy and exploit the rest

of the system) and periphery regions (areas that provide raw materials to the core and are

exploited by it). These firms rival nations in wealth and frequently operate as private

governments pursuing their worldwide interests by well-developed foreign policies.

SOC 101 Intro to Socio Notes

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