Sociological Perspectives

Read:“The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life” p61

What informs our sense of what is true?

1.Values and Norms2. Journalism3.Personal Experience4.Fiction

Values and NormsValues and Norms

• SocializationSocialization i is the process by which a person internalizes the values, beliefs, and norms of society and learns to function as a member of that society.

ValuesValues are our beliefs

NormsNorms are how values tell us to act

What are some American Values?

And when we break norms?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgso3Y-l0h8

What Is Culture?• Culture can be loosely defined as a set of

beliefs, traditions, and practices.

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Material vs. Nonmaterial CultureMaterial vs. Nonmaterial Culture• Material culture is everything that is a part of our constructed environment, such as music, books,

fashion, and monuments.

• Nonmaterial culture encompasses values, beliefs, behaviors, and social norms.

Which of the following are examples of material and Which of the following are examples of material and nonmaterial culture?nonmaterial culture?

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Cultural RelativismCultural Relativism• This the idea that we should recognize differences across cultures without passing

judgment on or assigning value to those differences.

• Our sociological imagination should allow us to step back from our lives and examine situations without bias.

Where Do Stereotypes Come From?Where Do Stereotypes Come From?• Intentionally or unintentionally, subtly or overtly, the media can

create or reinforce ethnic, racial, gender, religious, and other stereotypes.

• Ethnocentrism: the belief that our culture is superior to others and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of our own.

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• The term was coined by American Yale professor, William Graham Sumner• Sumner defined ethnocentrism as:

"[The] view of things in which one´s group is "[The] view of things in which one´s group is the center of everything, and others are scaled the center of everything, and others are scaled and rated with reference to it. Each group and rated with reference to it. Each group nourishes its own pride and vanity, boasts itself nourishes its own pride and vanity, boasts itself superior, exalts its own divinities and looks superior, exalts its own divinities and looks with contempt on outsiders."with contempt on outsiders."

Ethnocentrism is a very “Anything you can do, we can do it better” point of view concerning ethnicity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSJFBeVFtak

An individual with an ethnocentric view:An individual with an ethnocentric view:• Identifies strongly with in-group ethnicity, culture, etc.Identifies strongly with in-group ethnicity, culture, etc.• Feels proud, vain, superior about in-groupFeels proud, vain, superior about in-group• Views economic, political, social events from the point Views economic, political, social events from the point

of their in-groupof their in-group• Defines their culture elements as ‘correct’ & ‘natural’Defines their culture elements as ‘correct’ & ‘natural’• Thinks in-group norms are universalThinks in-group norms are universal

• Rejects out-group ethnicities, cultures, etc.Rejects out-group ethnicities, cultures, etc.• Feels like other ethnicities & cultures are inferiorFeels like other ethnicities & cultures are inferior• Xenophobia: a fear or hatred of persons of a different Xenophobia: a fear or hatred of persons of a different

race, or different ethnic or national originrace, or different ethnic or national origin• Defines other culture’s elements as ‘incorrect’ & Defines other culture’s elements as ‘incorrect’ &

‘unnatural’‘unnatural’

Cultural ScriptsCultural Scripts

• Cultural scripts are modes of behavior and understanding that are not universal or natural, but that may strongly shape beliefs or concepts held by a society.

Ethnocentrism occurs frequently here at homeExamples:• Capitalism vs. Communism: for years, the US has fought to end

communism because they believe capitalism trumps all

• Driving: Ethnocentric Americans say that driving on the left side of the road is the ‘wrong side’ & that the right side is the ‘correct side’

American Ethnocentrism

More examples:• Accents: Ethnocentric Americans may say that another person has an

accent, implying that the other person speaks different, strange, & un-American

• Legal Age of Alcohol Consumption: the US has a higher drinking age of most other countries & does not emulate other countries by lowering the legal age because they think it is the best age for a person to be able to start consuming alcohol

American Ethnocentrism

Extreme examples:Americans are obese & uneducatedCanadians say ‘eh’Rich people are snobby & members of country clubsAsians are geniuses & bad driversEnglish people drink tea & have bad teethWomen are bad drivers & emotionalMen are strong & smarter than women

Ethnocentric Stereotypes

Achieved vs. Ascribed StatusAchieved vs. Ascribed Status• People's status is based mainly on

their own achievements, including education obtained and level of success realized in their line of work.

• Traditionally, a person's status in the society was based importantly on inherited characteristics such as age, gender, and family.  This is changing.

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SubculturesSubcultures• A subculture is a group united by sets of concepts, values, traits,

and/or behavioral patterns that distinguish it from others within the same culture or society.

Social RelationshipsSocial Relationships• InformalInformal, egalitarian. People most

comfortable with their social equals; importance of social rankings minimized.

• FormalFormal, hierarchical. People most comfortable in the presence of a hierarchy in which they know their position and the customs/rules for behavior in the situation.

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Harmony vs. "Truth"Harmony vs. "Truth"• Willing to confront directly,confront directly, criticize,

discuss controversial topics, press personal opinions about what they consider "the truth.  Little concern with "face."

• Avoid direct confrontationAvoid direct confrontation, open criticism, and controversial topics.  Concern maintaining harmony and with "face."

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Sociological Perspectives :Sociological Perspectives :FunctionalismFunctionalism

The media gets people to go along with the ideas presented because it seems to portray the status quo or the natural order of thingsseems to portray the status quo or the natural order of things. In doing so, it helps reinforce values and norms.Transmission of the social heritage refers to the ability of the media to communicate values, norms, and styles across time and between groups.

A television network might air a violent police drama with the aim of entertaining, but the actual function served for the audience might be learning how to actual function served for the audience might be learning how to

solve conflicts. solve conflicts. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPKMaNL6kJQ

Sociological Perspectives: Sociological Perspectives: ConflictConflict

From a Marxist viewpoint, status-symbol chocolate advertising exemplifies how “commodity fetishism” helps maintain capitalism. Such advertising

legitimizes the elite class by reinforcing the image of upper-class superiority and by presenting the luxurious lifestyle as something to aspire to.

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Godiva promotes the idea that consumers of their chocolates are somehow “higher class” and more “tasteful” than people who do not consume them.  As a result, their chocolates have a higher exchange

value than the everyday, $1 chocolates meant for middle and lower-class consumers. Can you say “Starbucks?”

Sociological Perspectives: Sociological Perspectives: Symbolic InteractionismSymbolic Interactionism

• The values and norms change moment to moment based on our mutual day-to-day interactions with each other.

• The media uses symbols of happiness and success to attempt to affect an abstract social structure. For instance, companies no longer try to sell their products – they instead try to sell a lifestyle.

• Customers believe that if they acquire the product, their lifestyle will change.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiKxeXzv-wM

• Millions of people all over the country watch sitcoms like Friends and are influenced by the message they give out. The various scenarios within in Friends can be seen as a mark of the issues within a certain time period. David Pierson states, "The sitcom can be understood as a historical The sitcom can be understood as a historical and cultural document for observing and scrutinizing dominant and cultural document for observing and scrutinizing dominant social manners at any particular time period, especially those social manners at any particular time period, especially those relating to gender, social class, and relationshipsrelating to gender, social class, and relationships"

• Friends will be remembered as a representation of the lives of average Americans and the stereotypes held within that time period.

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Mostly we don’t think about it and we are not always sure of the source of our information

Sociologists have created theoretical frameworks to explain social

phenomenonWe will examine

Structural FunctionalismTalcott Parsons Emile Durkheim• Social institutions play a key role in keeping society alive and stable.

• Institutions train individuals into their social roles• Educational institutions train people for their future statuses or

jobs they will fill• The family is in charge of socializing new members of society.• Religion helps reaffirm values and morals to maintain social ties.

“Anomie” – A state of normlessnessThe September 11, 2001 terrorist attack was an act of extreme

deviance caused by anomic conditions (conditions of social chaos when the rules for normative behavior seem to have disappeared)

in the Middle East and among Muslim people throughout the world.

Because of the cultural influence of the American media throughout the world, and because of the rapidity of social change taking place due to that cultural influence, the terrorists engaged in an act of deviance based on their belief that they were acting at the behest of God, and for the good of their own people, that took their own lives as well as the lives of thousands of others.

According to functionalists….Even dysfunction and deviance has a

purpose.• Question: How could the drug trade, prostitution, war, cat-

fishing be somehow functional to society?

The war in Iraq according to the Functionalist paradigm,

was fought in order to maintain security and stability in the US by keeping

terrorism at bay thousands of miles away.

The Conflict Perspective Karl Marx Feminist Theorists

• Dominant classes subordinate the lower classes• The structure of society is a source of inequality

• The focus is on how institutions promote division and inequality• Conflict is the basic , animating force for social change and society in general.

Are the opportunities/consequences the same for all?

The Conflict paradigm does a very good job of explaining racism, sexism,

ageism, socioeconomic inequality (wealth and poverty), etc.

•  When we are analyzing any element of society from this perspective, we need to look at the structures of wealth, power, and status and the ways in which those structures maintain the social, economic, political, and coercive power of one group at the expense of all other groups.

 The word Tutsi means those "rich in cattle" and the word Hutu means "servant" or "subject".

Conflict: The war in Iraq

The Bourgeoisie (the United States and most of Western Europe) has exploited for decades the people and natural resources of

the Middle East without offering economic and educational support to the people. The U.S. and Western Europe have

supported dictatorial regimes, ignored human rights abuses, and generally turned their backs on the plight of the majority of

Middle Easterners and Muslims in general throughout the world.

Thus, the terrorists (as representatives of the Proletariat), attacked, or attempted to attack, the centers of American power: the World Trade Center (economic power), the Pentagon (military

power), and the U.S. Capital (political power).

The war in Iraq which began in 2003, according to the Conflict paradigm, was being fought in order to extend the power and control of the United States, and to create an American empire in the non-

white, non-Christian world.

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack was caused by American foreign policy vis á vis the Middle East as a whole, the first Gulf War, American support of the Israeli government and Israel’s treatment of its

Palestinian population.

Symbolic InteractionBlumer Goffman

• Unlike functionalism and conflict which are macro approaches to structures in society, SI examines the micro-level, day to day interaction with people.

• Takes place within a world of symbolic communication.• The symbols we use, language, gestures, posture are influences by the

larger group or society.• Society emerges from countless interpersonal communications that

individuals have.• When you play the role as the student and I as the professor, we reinforce the

larger institution of the University.

The Symbolic Interactionist ParadigmSymbolic Interactionism describes society as small groups of individuals interacting based on the various ways that people interpret their

various cultural symbols such as spoken, written, and non-verbal language. Our behavior with and among other people (our interaction) is the result of our shared understanding of cultural symbols. This is a micro-level

paradigm that describes small-scale processes and small-scale social systems; it is interested in individual behavior.

The war in Iraq which began in 2003, according to the

Symbolic Interactionist paradigm, it is being fought to send a message

Islamic terrorists - that the US cannot be attacked with impunity

And to support the image of non-white, non-Christian people as dangerous to our way of life.

Irving Goffman

Date 5 September 2009Sourc

eOwn work

Author

Rcragun

How about these examples?