The Sociological Perspective andCulture

By:Joyce Guianan

andIsmael N. Lopez Jr.

Sociology

As defined is the scientific study of human behavior and the social context in which it occurs.

Other social sciences• Anthropology- study of human culture as

basis for society• Psychology- analyzes individual behavior• Political Science- study of politics and

organization of government• Social Work- applied field that draws the

lessons of all the social sciences to serve people in need.

• and others...

Sociological Perspective

-seeing the world in a different light.

-allows us to see the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.

C. Wright Mills-proponent of the “sociological

imagination”

SOCIAL IMAGINATION-is the ability to identify the societal patterns that influence individual and group life.

C. Wright Mills also distinguished between TROUBLES – privately felt problems that develop from events or emotions in an individual’s life andISSUES – problems that affect large numbers of people and based in the history and institutional arrangements of society.

For example, Mr. Cruz was fired from his job because he repeatedly overslept or came to work late. What kind of problem is this?

Human Trafficking is an example of what kind of problem?

Sociology is an empirical discipline where rigorous methods of research that are used to investigate everyday life.

Key Sociological Concepts

• Social Structure-organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions that together institute society.

• Social Institutions-are established, organized systems of social behavior with particular, recognized purposes.

• Sociologists do not view society as fixed – so they are interested in the process of Social Change

• Social Interaction-behavior between two or more people.

Sociological Theory

Functionalism- investigates how each part of society contributes to the stability of the whole system.

a. Talcott Parsons identified the four principal functions of society namely adaptation, goal attainment, integration and latency.

b. Robert Merton distinguished the

latent functions-social practices can have unintended consequences that are neither immediately apparent from manifest functions-intended goals of social behavior.

Conflict Theory-emphasizes the role of coercion in producing social order, noting that power is the ability to influence and control others.

Symbolic Interaction Theory views social interaction as the basis of society

CULTUREThe complex system of meaning and

behavior that defines the way of life for a given group of people, includes customs, habits, dress, beliefs, values, knowledge, art, morals, language and laws.

Characteristics of Culture

1. Culture is shared. Culture is collectively experienced and agreed upon.

2. Culture is learned. 3. Culture is taken for granted.4. Culture is symbolic.5. Culture varies across time and

place.

Elements of culture

• Language- a set of interrelated symbols and rules that provides a complex communication system.

• Norms- are the specific cultural expectations for how to behave in certain situations.

• Folkways- general standards of behavior adhered by a group.

• Mores- the strict norms that control moral and ethical behavior which are often upheld by laws.

• Social sanctions- are mechanisms of social control that enforce norms may be imposed on people who violate norms.

• Ethnomethodology- a technique for studying human interaction that involves deliberately disrupting social norms and observing how individuals respond.

• Beliefs- are shared ideas held collectively by people within a given culture.

• Values- are the abstract standards in a society or group that define ideal principles.

Cultural Diversitya. Dominant culture- culture of the

most powerful in society.b. Subcultures- cultures of groups

whose values, norms, and behavior are somewhat different from those of dominant culture.

c. Countercultures- are subcultures that reject the dominant cultural values.

d. Ethnocentrism- is the habit of seeing things only from the perspective of one’s own group.

e. Global Culture- the diffusion of a single culture throughout the world.

Popular Culture

Includes the beliefs, practices, and objects that are part of daily tradition, including mass- produced, mass-marketed media that are shared by large audiences.

Cultural Change

Culture lag- refers to the delay in making cultural adjustments to changing social conditions.

Culture Shock- when culture changes rapidly, or someone is suddenly thrust into a new cultural situation.