sociology assign1

Assignment: 1SUBMITTED TO: Mrs. Uma Rani

SOCIOLOGY

1.)Define & Explain Scope of sociology?

Introduction:

Sociology is a social science that studies society and the individual

in perspective of Society. The origins of Sociology lie in the 19th

century but during the 1960-70s, it became a major social science

subject, taught in universities and colleges, and schools. The scope

of sociology has only become more scientific with time.

Definition:

"Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It

is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter

our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is

extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters

between individuals in the street up to the investigation of world-

wide social processes". Anthony Giddens ("Sociology", 1989)

Sociology is the study of society. It concerns itself with the social

rules and process that

Bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of

associations, groups, and Institutions. Sociology is both topically and

methodologically a very broad discipline. Its traditional focuses have

included social stratification, social class, social

mobility, religion, secularisation, law, and deviance. As all spheres of

human activity are sculpted by social structure and individual

agency, sociology has gradually expanded its focus to further

subjects, such as health, military and penal institutions, the Internet,

and even the role of social activity in the development of scientific

knowledge.

The term was coined by Auguste

Comte in 1838 from Latin socius (companion, associate) and

Greek logia (study of, speech). Comte hoped to unify all studies of

humankind including history, psychology and economics. His own

sociological scheme was typical of the 19th century; he believed all

human life had passed through the same distinct historical stages

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and that, if one could grasp this progress, one could prescribe the

remedies for social ills.

Scope of sociology:

There are two schools of thought with different viewpoints regarding

scope and subject matter of sociology- formal school and synthetic

school. According to formal school sociology was conceived to be a

social science with a specifically defined field. This school had

George Simmel, Ferdinand Tonnies, Alfred Vierkandt and Leopord

Von Wiese as its main advocates. On the other hand the synthetic

school with Durkheim, Hobhouse and Sorokin advocated a synthesis

in form of coordination among all social sciences.

Formal school of sociology:

Formal school argued in favor of giving sociology a definite subject

matter to make it a distinct discipline. It emphasized upon the study

of forms of social relationships and regarded sociology as

independent. According to Simmel sociology is a specific social

science which describes, classifies, analyses and delineates the

forms of social relationships or in other words social interactions

should be classified into various forms or types and analysed.

Simmel argued that social interactions have various forms. He

carried out studies of such formal relationships as cooperation,

competition, sub and super ordinate relationships and so forth. He

said however diverse the interests are that give rise to these

sociations; the forms in which the interests are realized may yet be

identical. He emphasized on the process of abstraction of these

forms from human relationship which are common to diverse

situations. Vierkandt maintained that sociology should be concerned

with ultimate forms of mental or psychic relationship which knit the

people together in a society. According to Von Wiese there are two

kinds of fundamental social processes in human society. Firstly the

associative process concerning contact, approach, adaptation etc

and secondly disassociate processes like competition and conflict.

Apart from these two processes a mixed form of the associative and

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dissociative also exists. Each of these processes has sub-classes

which in totality give approximately 650 forms of human

relationships. Sociology should confine itself to the discovery of the

fundamental force of change and persistence and should abstain

from a historical study of concrete societies. Tonnies divided

societies into two categories namely Gemeinschaft (Town ) and

Gesellschaft (association) on the basis of degree of intimacy among

the members of the society. He has on the basis of forms of

relationship tried to differentiate between Town and society. Max

Weber also makes out a definite field for sociology. According to him

the aim of sociology is to interpret or understand social behaviour.

But social behaviour does not cover the whole field of human

relations. Indeed not all human interactions are social. Sociology is

concerned with the analysis and classification of types of social

relationships.

Synthetic school of sociology:

Synthetic school wanted sociology to be synthesis of the social

sciences and thus wanted to widen the scope of sociology.

According to Durkheim, sociology has three principal divisions'

namely-Social morphology, social physiology and general sociology.

Social morphology is concerned with geographical or territorial basis

of life of people such as population, its size, density and distribution

etc. This can be done at two levels -analysis of size and quality of

population which affects the quality of social relationship and social

groups. Secondly the study of social structure or description of the

main forms of social groups and institutions with their classification.

Social physiology deals with the genesis and nature of various social

institutions namely religion, morals, law and economic institutions

etc. In general sociology the main aim is to formulate general social

laws. Attempt is made to find out if there are links among various

institutions which would be treated independently in social

physiology and in the course to discover general social laws.

Hobhouse perceived sociology as a science which has the whole

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social life of man as its sphere. Its relations with the other social

sciences are considered to be one of mutual exchange and mutual

stimulation. Karl Mannheim's divides sociology into two main

sections-systematic and general sociology and historical sociology.

Systematic sociology describes one by one the main factors of living

together as far as they may be found in every kind of society. The

historical sociology deals with the historical variety and actuality of

the general forms of society. It falls into two sections-comparative

sociology and social dynamics. Comparative sociology deals mainly

with the historical variations of the same phenomenon and tries to

find by comparison general features as separated from industrial

features. Social dynamics deals with the interrelations between the

various social factors and institutions in a certain given society for

example in a primitive society. Ginsberg has summed up the chief

functions of sociology as it seeks to provide a classification of types

and forms of social relationships especially of those which have

come to be defined institutions and associations. It tries to

determine the relation between different parts of factors of social

life for example the economic and political, the moral and the legal,

the intellectual and the social elements. It endeavours to

disentangle the fundamental conditions of social change and

persistence and to discover sociological principles governing social

life.

Thus on the basis of viewpoints of different sociologists we can get a

general outline of the scope of sociology. Firstly the analysis of

various institutions, associations and social groups which are results

of social relationships of individuals should be the concern of

sociology. Secondly the links among different parts of society should

be studied. This objective is dealt with justice by functionalist school

of sociology and Marxist school also gives importance to this

viewpoint. Thus social structure should be given adequate

importance in subject matter of sociology. Thirdly sociology

addresses itself to the factors which contribute to social stability and

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social change. Fourthly sociology should also explain the trend of

the changing pattern and the aftermath of the changes in the

society.

2.)Relation Between sociology & town planning:

Town planning is a branch of sociology that focuses on larger social

systems and social change. It has often been referred to as Macro

Practice and has been recognized for many years as one of the main

methods. Sampson (1999) has opined that Town planning is “The

ability of a Town structure to realize the common values of its

residents and maintain effective social controls." Town

development seeks to empower individuals and groups of people by

providing them with the skills they need to effect change in their

own communities. These skills are often concentrated around

building political power through the formation of large social groups

working for a common agenda. To work with communities

experiencing disadvantage, enabling them to collectively, identify

needs and rights, clarify objects and take action to meet them

within a democratic framework, which represents the needs and

rights of others.”

In order to comprehend where Town planning stands today, it is

helpful to view its history. Town Development has often been an

unequivocal and inherent goal of people, aiming to achieve, through

cooperative effort, a better life and has occurred throughout history.

Currently, the field of Town planning encompasses Town organizing,

social planning, human service management, Town development,

policy analysis, policy advocacy, evaluation, mediation, electronic

advocacy and other larger systems interventions and has

considerable overlap with many other applied social sciences, such

as urban planning, economic development, public affairs, rural

sociology and non profit management. Work can be generic or

specialized. It takes place in a given geographical area, focusing on

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working with the Town to identify their needs and issues and jointly

formulating strategies to address those issues. The context is either

urban or rural, with rural Town development work increasingly

attracting attention in recent years. Specialized Town work focuses

on either specific groups within a region (such as the homeless, the

long-term unemployed, families with young children or ethnic

minorities) or on particular concerns (such as public transport,

mental health or drugs action). A good deal of the work is project-

based, which means that Town planning usually have a remit of a

specific location or social issue.

Specialized Town planner tasks typically involve identifying

Town issues, needs and problems; developing new Town -based

programmes and resources; evaluating and monitoring existing

programmes; enlisting the co-operation of government bodies, Town

planners and sponsors; helping to raise public awareness on issues

relevant to the Town ; providing leadership and co-ordination of

programmes; acting as facilitator to promote self-help in the Town ;

preparing reports and policies; networking to build contacts and

fundraising; developing and agreeing strategies; liaising with

interested groups and individuals to set up new services; mediating

and negotiating with opposing parties; recruiting and training paid

and voluntary staff; planning, attending and co-ordinating meetings

and events; overseeing the financial management of a limited

budget; encouraging participation in activities; challenging

inappropriate behaviour and political structures; carrying out

various administrative tasks.

Town -based social work practice embraces an inclusive

definition of Town , values Town as process, views the individual in

the context of a pattern of relationships that includes family, groups,

organizations, and communities, integrates Town and individual

practice, builds interventions on the strengths and assets of

individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities,

emphasizes participation, teamwork, collaboration, and partnerships

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at all levels, recognizes that comprehensive interventions are

shaped by all interactions and exchanges within the social ecology,

involves interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary approaches,

facilitates empowerment through a reciprocal, educational process

of lifelong learning, encourages innovation and improvement of

services.

Certain fundamental characteristics which underline Town

planning are Firstly and mostly importantly, the Town is the client.

The needs of the Town are dominant and these needs are spelled

out in issues that affect large numbers of people. Town work is

methodical and purpose-oriented work aimed at change, the

purpose of which is to solve problems prevailing in the area. Town

work is carried out in a residential area according to the residents'

needs for instance a Town affected by escalating criminal activities

may unite to form neighbourhood watch groups. The residents,

associations, organizations and authorities of a given area develop

social activities and resources together, aiming to improve their

social conditions by means of various work activities and methods.

Town developers must understand how to work with individuals and

also how to affect communities' positions within the context of

larger social institutions. The planners are to identify groups,

individuals and families within applicable legislation in order to

protect and improve the social well-being and functioning of families

and individuals. The worker must have and understanding of how

policy guides human service programs, both in organizations and

communities and must be able to transform those policies and

programs to be more responsive to human needs, whether by

developing programs which strive to satisfy Town needs or enacting

some form of social change.

Social workers need to analyze and apply knowledge of bio-psycho-

social variables that affect individual development and behaviour.

But they also need to understand and intervene in the patterns of

interaction that generate or perpetuate problems involving multiple

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system levels such as family, neighbours, school, and social service

or justice systems. Town -based social work practice sees lasting

solutions to problems as arising from the strengths of the Town and

culture of the individuals and families concerned. It recognizes that

clients are involved in larger patterns of formal and informal helping

that may involve social networks including family, church or temple,

friends, neighbours, or Town planners as well as other professionals.

Social work practice sees itself as one part of this larger pattern of

helping, its effectiveness depending on how the whole pattern works

to ensure that individual, family, and Town needs are met.

planners support individuals, groups and organizations on the

basis of certain values and commitments. These values include

social justice, participation, equality, learning and co-operation.

Social justice enables people to claim their human rights, meet their

needs and have greater control over the decision-making processes

which affect their lives. Participation involves facilitating democratic

involvement by people in the issues which affect their lives based

on full citizenship, autonomy, and shared power, skills, knowledge

and experience. Equality entails challenging the attitudes of

individuals, and the practices of institutions and society, which

discriminate against and marginalize individuals. Learning requires

recognizing the skills, knowledge and expertise that people

contribute and develop by taking action to tackle social, economic,

political and environmental problems. Co-operation is working

together to identify and implement action, based on mutual respect

of diverse cultures and contributions

Rubin and Rubin have defined four essential roles of the social

worker in Town development. They are organizers as teachers,

organizers as catalysts, organizers as facilitators and a linking role.

According to Rothman there are three types of Town models

which include locality development, social action and social

planning. Locality development typifies the methods of work with

groups used by settlement houses and in 'colonial' Town

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development work. A major focus is on the process of Town building.

Working with a broad, representative cross section of the Town,

workers attempt to achieve change objectives by enabling the Town

to establish consensus via the identification of common interests.

Leadership development and the education of the participants are

important elements in the process. In this approach great store is

set by the values of both participation and leadership. Social action

is employed by groups and organizations which seek to alter

institutional policies or to make changes in the distribution of power.

Civil rights groups and social movements are examples. Their

methods may be and often are, abrasive and participation is the

value most clearly articulated by those who use this approach. Both

leadership and expertise may be challenged as the symbolic

'enemies of the people'.

Social planning is the method of Town planning traditional to

health and welfare councils, city planners, urban renewal authorities

and the large public bureaucracies. Effort is focused primarily on

task goals and issues of resource allocation. Whereas the initial

emphasis of this approach was on the co-ordination of social

services, its attention has expanded to include programme

development and planning in all major social welfare institutions.

Heavy reliance is placed on rational problem solving and the use of

technical methods such as research and systems analysis. Expertise

is the cherished value in this approach, although leadership is

accorded importance as well.

Processes provide an excellent framework for the operation of the

Town planning in order to effect successful Town development. The

most commonly utilized are research, planning, coordination,

organization, financing, administration, committee operation and

advocacy and social action. To begin, social research is the process

of obtaining facts regarding social phenomena, social problems and

their solutions. Various research methods are used as statistical

studies, surveys and case studies. If a social problem is researched

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then it can be better understood and strategies can be implemented

to solve the issue. Planning is intentional formulation of future

action and ways of procedure. It is usually carried out by

representatives of various group meeting and making decisions

regarding social difficulties and their solutions. Coordination is the

process of working together to avoid unnecessary duplication, effort

and conflict. On the positive side, it is the joining of people,

agencies and forces to support and compels them to strengthen

each other thus enabling effective services that surpass what could

be done independently. Organization is the process of establishing

a structure to accomplish certain goals. In Town planning it is the

method of formulating a structure to consider Town needs,

resources and the utilization of the resources to satisfy the needs.

Without it activities occur on a hit or miss basis. There are several

underlying principles in Town planning. McNeil has postulated

several principles that are universally applicable. Firstly, Town

planning for social welfare is concerned with people and their needs.

Its objective is to enrich human life by bringing about and

maintaining a progressively more effective adjustment between

social welfare resources and social welfare needs. The community

may be a neighbourhood, city, country, state or nation. In recent

times, the ‘international’ Town has emerged It is a maxim in Town

planning that the Town is to be understood and accepted as it is

and where it is and all of the people of the Town are concerned in

its health and welfare services. Representation of all interests and

elements in the population and their full and meaningful

participation are essential objectives in Town planning.

According to McNeil the fact of ever changing human needs and

the reality of relationships between and among people and groups

are the dynamics in the Town planning process. Acceptance of the

concept of purposeful change and John Dewey’s philosophy of the

“ever enduring process of perfecting, maturing, and refining” as

goals in Town planning is basic. In addition, he opines that

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interdependence of all threads in the social welfare fabric of

organization is a fundamental truth. No single agency can usefully

“live unto itself alone” but is constantly performing its functions in

relation to others. Finally, he outlines that Town planning for social

welfare as a process is a part of generic social work.

In concluding, social work practice is broadly defined. Social

workers intervene at all levels, with individuals, families, groups,

organizations and communities with the aim of building partnerships

of those involved to strengthen the caring capacity of communities

as they work to resolve issues of immediate concern. Professional

social work practice focuses not only on an individual’s intra-psychic

concerns since the individual client is viewed as part of multiple,

overlapping systems that encompass the person’s social and

physical environment. As a result, in many instances, an effective

helping relationship on a micro level is only possible only through

macro intervention strategies. Hence, micro and macro practices

are interwoven by the worker/agency to produce effective casework

services. It is therefore important for macro practitioners to

understand the import of individual and group interventions as it is

for micro-practice workers to understand the implication of

organizational, Town and policy change.

3.)Write short notes on:

Social institutions:

A social institution is a complex, integrated set of social norms

organized around the preservation of a basic societal value.

Obviously, the sociologist does not define institutions in the same

way as does the person on the street. Lay persons are likely to use

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the term "institution" very loosely, for churches, hospitals, jails, and

many other things as institutions. Sociologists often reserve the

term "institution" to describe normative systems that operate in five

basic areas of life, which may be designated as the primary

institutions.

In determining Kinship

In providing for the legitimate use of power

In regulating the distribution of goods and services

In transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next

In regulating our relation to the supernatural.

In shorthand form, or as concepts, these five basic institutions are

called the family, government, economy, education and religion.

The five primary institutions are found among all human groups.

They are not always as highly elaborated or as distinct from one

another as into the United States, but, in rudimentary form at last,

they exist everywhere. Their universality indicates that they are

deeply rooted in human nature and that they are essential in the

development and maintenance of orders. Sociologists operating in

terms of the functionalist model society have provided the clearest

explanation of the functions served by social institutions. Apparently

there are certain minimum tasks that must be performed in all

human groups. Unless these tasks are performed adequately, the

group will cease to exist. An analogy may help to make the point.

We might hypothesize that cost accounting department is essential

to the operation of a large corporation. A company might procure a

superior product and distribute it then at the price which is assigned

to it, the company will soon go out of business. Perhaps the only

way to avoid this is to have a careful accounting of the cost of each

step in the production and distribution process.

Social associations:

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Men have diverse needs, desires and interests which demand

satisfaction. There are three ways of fulfilling these needs. Firstly

they may act independently each in his own way without caring for

others. This is unsocial with limitations. Secondly men may seek

their ends through conflicts with one another. Finally men may try to

fulfill their ends through cooperation and mutual assistance. This

cooperation has a reference to association.

When a group or collection of individuals organize themselves

expressly for the purpose of pursuing certain of its interests

together on a cooperative pursuit an association is said to be born.

According to Morris Ginsberg an association is a group of social

beings related to one another by the fact that they possess or have

instituted in common an organization with a view to securing a

specific end or specific ends. The associations may be found in

different fields. No single association can satisfy all the interests of

the individual or individuals. Since Man has many interests, he

organizes various associations for the purpose of fulfilling varied

interests. He may belong to more than one organization.

Main characteristics:

Association: An association is formed or created by people. It is a

social group. Without people there can be no association. It is an

organized group. An unorganized group like crowd or mob cannot be

an association.

Common interest: An association is not merely a collection of

individuals. It consists of those individuals who have more or less

the same interests. Accordingly those who have political interests

may join political association and those who have religious interests

may join religious associations and so on.

Cooperative spirit: An association is based on the cooperative spirit

of its members. People work together to achieve some definite

purposes. For example a political party has to work together as a

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united group on the basis of cooperation in order to fulfil its

objective of coming to power.

Organization: Association denotes some kind of organization. An

association is known essentially as an organized group. Organization

gives stability and proper shape to an association. Organization

refers to the way in which the statuses and roles are distributed

among the members.

Regulation of relations: Every association has its own ways and

means of regulating the relation of its members. Organization

depends on this element of regulation. They may assume written or

unwritten forms.

Association as agencies: Associations are means or agencies

through which their members seek to realize their similar or shared

interests. Such social organizations necessarily act not merely

through leaders but through officials or representatives as agencies.

Associations normally act through agents who are responsible for

and to the association.

Durability of association: An association may be permanent or

temporary. There are some long standing associations like the state;

family, religious association’s etc. Some associations may be

temporary in nature.

Social community:

The term community is one of the most elusive and vague in

sociology and is by now largely without specific meaning. At the

minimum it refers to a collection of people in a geographical area.

Three other elements may also be present in any usage. (1)

Communities may be thought of as collections of people with a

particular social structure; there are, therefore, collections which are

not communities. Such a notion often equates community with rural

or pre-industrial society and may, in addition, treat urban or

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industrial society as positively destructive. (2) A sense of belonging

or community spirit. (3) All the daily activities of a community, work

and non work, take place within the geographical area, which is self

contained. Different accounts of community will contain any or all of

these additional elements.

We can list out the characteristics of a community as follows:

Territory

Close and informal relationships

Mutuality

Common values and beliefs

Organized interaction

Strong group feeling

Cultural similarity

Talcott Parsons defined community as collectivity the members of

which share a common territorial area as their base of operation for

daily activities. According to Tonnies community is defined as an

organic natural kind of social group whose members are bound

together by the sense of belonging, created out of everyday

contacts covering the whole range of human activities. He has

presented ideal-typical pictures of the forms of social associations

contrasting the solidarity nature of the social relations in the

community with the large scale and impersonal relations thought to

characterize industrializing societies. Kingsley Davis defined it as

the smallest territorial group that can embrace all aspects of social

life. For Karl Mannheim community is any circle of people who live

together and belong together in such a way that they do not share

this or that particular interest only but a whole set of interests.

Social organisation:

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Ogburn and Nimkoff have defined organization is an articulation of

different parts which perform various functions; it is an active group

device for getting something done.

Eliott and Merrill says, organization is a state of being, a condition in

which the various institutions in a society are functioning in

accordance with their recognized or implied purposes.

According to H.M Johnson, organization refers to an aspect of

interaction systems.

At present the term social organization is used to refer to the

interdependence of parts in groups. These groups may vary in size

and nature from workers to the factories. Many sociologists prefer to

use the term social system to refer to the society as such rather

than social organization.

The term is used in sociological studies and researches today to

stress the importance of arrangement of parts in which the parts of

society are related to each other and how each is related to the

whole society. Organization makes possible the complex activities in

which the members of a complex society participate. A small body

of organized police can control a very large crowd. A small number

of men constituting themselves as a government can rule a country.

Sometimes the word organization is used to refer to the

associational groups. It includes corporations, armies, schools,

banks and prisons. The society consists of many such organizations.

A state is frequently called a political organization. A school may

represent an educational organization and so on. They are all social

organizations. According to Ogburn and Nimkoff entire society

represents a wider organization; a social organization. But society is

also quite generally an organized group of interacting individuals.

Characteristics:

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An organization has its own definite purpose. Without any purpose

or goal individuals come together and establish among themselves

a definite pattern or system of interaction. The smooth running of an

organization depends much on the mutual understanding,

cooperation and consensus among its members. The family as an

organization can run smoothly only when its members have mutual

understanding, cooperation and consensus among themselves. An

organization is understood as a mechanism that brings different

people together into a network of interaction to perform different

functions.

The organization assigns statuses and roles to the individuals and

makes them to assume statuses and enact roles. The organization

can function without any problem if harmony prevails between the

acceptance of the statuses by the members and their enactment of

the related roles. An organization maintains its control over the

behaviour of its members and regulates their activities. It makes use

of various formal as well as informal means of social control for this

purpose.

Social stratification:

In sociology and other social sciences, social stratification refers to

the hierarchical arrangement of individuals into divisions of power

and wealth within a society. Stratification derives from

the geological concept of strata - rock layers created by natural

processes. The term most commonly relates to the socio-economic

concept of class, involving the "classification of persons into groups

based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of

inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological

dimensions."

In modern Western societies, stratification is broadly organized into

three main layers: upper class, middle class, and lower class. Each

class may be further subdivided into smaller classes (e.g.

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occupational). These categories are particular to state-based

societies as distinguished from, for instance, feudal societies

composed of nobility-to-peasant relations. Stratification may also be

defined by kinship ties or castes. For Max Weber, social class

pertaining broadly to material wealth is distinguished from status

class which is based on such variables as honour, prestige and

religious affiliation. It is debatable whether the earliest hunter-

gatherer groups may be defined as 'stratified', or if such differentials

began with agriculture and broad acts of exchange between groups.

One of the ongoing issues in determining social stratification arises

from the point that status inequalities between individuals are

common, so it becomes a quantitative issue to determine how much

inequality qualifies as stratification.

Social stratification has been shown to cause many social problems.

A comprehensive study of major world economies revealed that

homicide, infant mortality, obesity, teenage pregnancies, emotional

depression and prison population all correlate with higher social

inequality.

3 main characteristics:

1. The rankings apply to social categories of people who share a

common characteristic without necessarily interacting or identifying

with each other. The process of being ranked can be changed by the

person being ranked.

Example: The way we rank people differently by race, gender, and

social class.

2. People's life experiences and opportunities depend on their social

category. This characteristic can be changed by the amount of work

a person can put into their interests.

Example: The greater advantage had by the son or daughter of a

king to have a successful life than the son or daughter of a

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minimum-wage factory worker, because the king has a greater

amount of resources than the factory worker — The use of resources

can influence others.

3. The ranks of different social categories change slowly over time.

This has occurred frequently in the United States ever since the

American Revolution. The U.S. Constitution has been altered several

times to contain rights for everyone

Social Control:

Social control refers generally to societal and political mechanisms

or processes that regulate individual and group behaviour, leading

to conformity and compliance to the rules of a given society, state,

or social group. Many mechanisms of social control are cross-

cultural, if only in the control mechanisms used to prevent the

establishment of chaos or anomie.[clarification needed] Some

theorists, such as Émile Durkheim, refer to this form of control

as regulation. Sociologists identify two basic forms of social controls

Internalization of norms and values, and

External sanctions, which can be either positive (rewards) or

negative (punishment).

Social control theory began to be studied as a separate field in the

early 20th century. The means to enforce social control can be

either formal or informal. Sociologist Edward A. Ross argued

that belief systems exert a greater control on human behavior than

laws imposed by government, no matter what form the beliefs take.

The social values that are present in individuals are products of

informal social control. It is exercised by a society without explicitly

stating these rules and is expressed through customs, norms,

and mores. Individuals are socialized whether consciously or

subconsciously. During informal sanctions, ridicule or ostracism can

cause a straying towards norms. The person internalizes these

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mores and norms. Traditional society uses mostly informal social

control embedded in its customary culture relying on

the socialization of its members to establish social order. Religion is

thought of by some as a common and historically established form

of informal social control. More rigidly-structured societies may

place increased reliance on formal mechanisms.

Informal sanctions may

include shame, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism and disapproval. In

extreme cases sanctions may include social discrimination and

exclusion. This implied social control usually has more effect on

individuals because they become internalized and thus an aspect

of personality. Informal sanctions check 'deviant' behaviour. An

example of a negative sanction comes from a scene in the Pink

Floyd film 'The Wall,' whereby the young protagonist is ridiculed and

verbally abused by a high school teacher for writing poetry in a

mathematics class. The scene illustrates how education is all about

control and conformity, and not about creativity and individuality.

As with formal controls, informal controls reward

or punish acceptable or unacceptable behaviour (i.e., deviance).

Informal controls are varied and differ from individual to individual,

group to group and society to society. For example, at a women's

institute meeting, a disapproving look might convey the message

that it is inappropriate to flirt with the minister. In a criminal gang,

on the other hand, a stronger sanction applies in the case of

someone threatening to inform to the police.

Formal social control is expressed through law as statutes, rules,

and regulations against deviant behavior. It is conducted

by government and organizations using law

enforcement mechanisms and other formal sanctions such

as fines and imprisonment.[2] In democratic societies the goals and

mechanisms of formal social control are determined

through legislation by elected representatives and thus enjoy a

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measure of support from the population and voluntary compliance.

(citation needed)

Applications of social control theory:

According to the propaganda model theory, the leaders of

modern, corporate-dominated societies employ indoctrination as a

means of social control. Theorists such as Noam Chomsky have

argued that systemic bias exists in the modern

media. The marketing, advertising, and public relations industries

have thus been said to utilize mass communications to aid the

interests of certain business elites. Powerful economic and

religious lobbyists have often used school systems and centralised

electronic communications to influence public opinion. Democracy is

restricted as the majority is not given the information necessary to

make rational decisions about ethical, social, environmental, or

economic issues.

To maintain control and regulate their

subjects, authoritarian organizations and governments promulgate

rules and issue decrees. However, due to a lack of popular support

for enforcement, these entities may rely more on force and other

severe sanctions such as censorship, expulsion and limits

on political freedom. Some totalitarian governments, such as the

late Soviet Union or the current North Korea, rely on the

mechanisms of the police state.

Sociologists consider informal means of social control vital in

maintaining public order, but also recognize the necessity of formal

means as societies become more complex and for responding to

emergencies. The study of social control falls primarily within the

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academic disciplines of anthropology, political science,

and sociology.

The continual application of low-level fear, as in mass surveillance or

an electronic police state also exerts a powerful coercive force upon

a populace.

Concepts of Sociologists:

KARL MARX:

Karl Marx's (1818-

1883) thought was strongly

influenced by:

-The dialectical method and

historical orientation of Georg

Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel;

-The classical political economy

of -Adam Smith and David

Ricardo;

- French socialist and

sociological thought, in

particular the thought of Jean-

Jacques Rousseau.

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The most important concepts of Karl Marx

The following concepts of Marx have aided sociological

thought significantly;

Dialectical Materialism

Materialistic Interpretation of History i.e Historical Materialism

Class and Class conflict

Alienation

Marx believed that he could study history and society scientifically

and discern tendencies of history and the resulting outcome

of social conflicts. Some followers of Marx concluded, therefore, that

a communist revolution is inevitable. However, Marx famously

asserted in the eleventh of his Theses on Feuerbach that

"philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the

point however is to change it", and he clearly dedicated himself to

trying to alter the world. Consequently, most followers of Marx are

not fatalists, but activists who believe that revolutionaries must

organize social change.

Marx's view of history, which came to be called the materialist

conception of history (and which was developed further as the

philosophy of dialectical materialism) is certainly influenced by

Hegel's claim that reality (and history) should be viewed

dialectically. Hegel believed that the direction of human history is

characterized in the movement from the fragmentary toward the

complete and the real (which was also a movement towards greater

and greater rationality). Sometimes, Hegel explained, this

progressive unfolding of the Absolute involves gradual, evolutionary

accretion but at other times requires discontinuous, revolutionary

leaps - episodal upheavals against the existing status quo. For

example, Hegel strongly opposed the ancient institution of legal

slavery that was practiced in the United States during his lifetime,

and he envisioned a time when Christian nations would radically

eliminate it from their civilization. While Marx accepted this broad

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conception of history, Hegel was an idealist, and Marx sought to

rewrite dialectics in materialist terms. He wrote that Hegelianism

stood the movement of reality on its head, and that it was necessary

to set it upon its feet. (Hegel's philosophy remained and remains in

direct opposition to Marxism on this key point.)

Marx's acceptance of this notion of materialist dialectics which

rejected Hegel's idealism was greatly influenced by Ludwig

Feuerbach. In The Essence of Christianity, Feuerbach argued that

God is really a creation of man and that the qualities people

attribute to God are really qualities of humanity. Accordingly, Marx

argued that it is the material world that is real and that our ideas of

it are consequences, not causes, of the world. Thus, like Hegel and

other philosophers, Marx distinguished between appearances and

reality. But he did not believe that the material world hides from us

the "real" world of the ideal; on the contrary, he thought that

historically and socially specific ideologies prevented people from

seeing the material conditions of their lives clearly.

The other important contribution to Marx's revision of Hegelianism

was Engels' book, The Condition of the Working Class in England in

1844, which led Marx to conceive of the historical dialectic in terms

of class conflict and to see the modern working class as the most

progressive force for revolution.The notion of labour is fundamental

in Marx's thought. Basically, Marx argued that it is human nature to

transform nature, and he calls this process of transformation

"labour" and the capacity to transform nature labour power. For

Marx, this is a natural capacity for a physical activity, but it is

intimately tied to the human mind and human imagination:A spider

conducts operations that resemble those of a weaver, and a bee

puts to shame many an architect in the construction of her cells. But

what distinguishes the worst architect from the best of bees is this,

that the architect raises his structure in imagination before he

erects it in reality. (Capital, Vol. I, Chap. 7, Pt. 1) Karl Marx inherits

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that Hegelian dialectic and, with it, a disdain for the notion of an

underlying invariant human nature. Sometimes Marxists express

their views by contrasting "nature" with "history". Sometimes they

use the phrase "existence precedes consciousness". The point, in

either case, is that who a person is, is determined by where and

when he is - social context takes precedence over innate behavior;

or, in other words, one of the main features of human nature is

adaptability. Marx did not believe that all people worked the same

way, or that how one works is entirely personal and individual.

Instead, he argued that work is a social activity and that the

conditions and forms under and through which people work are

socially determined and change over time.Marx's analysis of history

is based on his distinction between the means / forces of production,

literally those things, such as land, natural resources, and

technology, that are necessary for the production of material goods,

and the relations of production, in other words, the social and

technical relationships people enter into as they acquire and use the

means of production. Together these comprise the mode of

production; Marx observed that within any given society the mode

of production changes, and that European societies had progressed

from a feudal mode of production to a capitalist mode of production.

In general, Marx believed that the means of production change more

rapidly than the relations of production (for example, we develop a

new technology, such as the Internet, and only later do we develop

laws to regulate that technology). For Marx this mismatch between

(economic) base and (social) superstructure is a major source of

social disruption and conflict. Marx understood the "social relations

of production" to comprise not only relations among individuals, but

between or among groups of people, or classes. As a scientist and

materialist, Marx did not understand classes as purely subjective (in

other words, groups of people who consciously identified with one

another). He sought to define classes in terms of objective criteria,

such as their access to resources. For Marx, different classes have

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divergent interests, which is another source of social disruption and

conflict. Conflict between social classes being something which is

inherent in all human history:The history of all hitherto existing

society is the history of class struggles. (The Communist Manifesto,

Chap. 1)

Marx was especially concerned with how people relate to that most

fundamental resource of all, their own labour-power. Marx wrote

extensively about this in terms of the problem of alienation. As with

the dialectic, Marx began with a Hegelian notion of alienation but

developed a more materialist conception. For Marx, the possibility

that one may give up ownership of one's own labour - one's capacity

to transform the world - is tantamount to being alienated from one's

own nature; it is a spiritual loss. Marx described this loss in terms of

commodity fetishism, in which the things that people produce,

commodities, appear to have a life and movement of their own to

which humans and their behavior merely adapt. This disguises the

fact that the exchange and circulation of commodities really are the

product and reflection of social relationships among people. Under

capitalism, social relationships of production, such as among

workers or between workers and capitalists, are mediated through

commodities, including labor, that are bought and sold on the

market.

Commodity fetishism is an example of what Engels called false

consciousness, which is closely related to the understanding of

ideology. By ideology they meant ideas that reflect the interests of a

particular class at a particular time in history, but which are

presented as universal and eternal. Marx and Engels' point was not

only that such beliefs are at best half-truths; they serve an

important political function. Put another way, the control that one

class exercises over the means of production includes not only the

production of food or manufactured goods; it includes the

production of ideas as well (this provides one possible explanation

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for why members of a subordinate class may hold ideas contrary to

their own interests). Thus, while such ideas may be false, they also

reveal in coded form some truth about political relations. For

example, although the belief that the things people produce are

actually more productive than the people who produce them is

literally absurd, it does reflect the fact (according to Marx and

Engels) that people under capitalism are alienated from their own

labour-power. Another example of this sort of analysis is Marx's

understanding of religion, summed up in a passage from the preface

to his 1843 Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of

Right: Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the

expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering.

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a

heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium

of the people. Whereas his Gymnasium senior thesis argued that the

primary social function of religion was to promote solidarity, here

Marx sees the social function as a way of expressing and coping

with social inequality, thereby maintaining the status quo. Marx

argued that this alienation of human work (and resulting commodity

fetishism) is precisely the defining feature of capitalism. Prior to

capitalism, markets existed in Europe where producers and

merchants bought and sold commodities. According to Marx, a

capitalist mode of production developed in Europe when labor itself

became a commodity - when peasants became free to sell their own

labor-power, and needed to do so because they no longer possessed

their own land or tools necessary to produce. People sell their labor-

power when they accept compensation in return for whatever work

they do in a given period of time (in other words, they are not selling

the product of their labor, but their capacity to work). In return for

selling their labor power they receive money, which allows them to

survive. Those who must sell their labor power to live are

"proletarians." The person who buys the labor power, generally

someone who does own the land and technology to produce, is a

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"capitalist" or "bourgeois." (Marx considered this an objective

description of capitalism, distinct from any one of a variety of

ideological claims of or about capitalism). The proletarians inevitably

outnumber the capitalists.

Marx distinguished industrial capitalists from merchant capitalists.

Merchants buy goods in one place and sell them in another; more

precisely, they buy things in one market and sell them in another.

Since the laws of supply and demand operate within given markets,

there is often a difference between the price of a commodity in one

market and another. Merchants, then, practice arbitrage, and hope

to capture the difference between these two markets. According to

Marx, capitalists, on the other hand, take advantage of the

difference between the labor market and the market for whatever

commodity is produced by the capitalist. Marx observed that in

practically every successful industry input unit-costs are lower than

output unit-prices. Marx called the difference "surplus value" and

argued that this surplus value had its source in surplus labour.

The capitalist mode of production is capable of tremendous growth

because the capitalist can, and has an incentive to, reinvest profits

in new technologies. Marx considered the capitalist class to be the

most revolutionary in history, because it constantly revolutionized

the means of production. But Marx argued that capitalism was prone

to periodic crises. He suggested that over time, capitalists would

invest more and more in new technologies, and less and less in

labor. Since Marx believed that surplus value appropriated from

labor is the source of profits, he concluded that the rate of profit

would fall even as the economy grew. When the rate of profit falls

below a certain point, the result would be a recession or depression

in which certain sectors of the economy would collapse. Marx

understood that during such a crisis the price of labor would also

fall, and eventually make possible the investment in new

technologies and the growth of new sectors of the economy.

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Marx believed that this cycle of growth, collapse, and growth would

be punctuated by increasingly severe crises. Moreover, he believed

that the long-term consequence of this process was necessarily the

enrichment and empowerment of the capitalist class and the

impoverishment of the proletariat. He believed that were the

proletariat to seize the means of production, they would encourage

social relations that would benefit everyone equally, and a system of

production less vulnerable to periodic crises. In general, Marx

thought that peaceful negotiation of this problem was impracticable,

and that a massive, well-organized and violent revolution would in

general be required, because the ruling class would not give up

power without violence. He theorized that to establish the socialist

system, a dictatorship of the proletariat - a period where the needs

of the working-class, not of capital, will be the common deciding

factor - must be created on a temporary basis. As he wrote in his

"Critique of the Gotha Program", "between capitalist and communist

society there lies the period of the revolutionary transformation of

the one into the other. Corresponding to this is also a political

transition period in which the state can be nothing but the

revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat."

In the 1920s and '30s, a group of dissident Marxists founded the

Institute for Social Research in Germany, among them Max

Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno, Erich Fromm, and Herbert Marcuse. As

a group, these authors are often called the Frankfurt School. Their

work is known as Critical Theory, a type of Marxist philosophy and

cultural criticism heavily influenced by Hegel, Freud, Nietzsche, and

Max Weber.The Frankfurt School broke with earlier Marxists,

including Lenin and Bolshevism in several key ways. First, writing at

the time of the ascendance of Stalinism and Fascism, they had

grave doubts as to the traditional Marxist concept of proletarian

class consciousness. Second, unlike earlier Marxists, especially

Lenin, they rejected economic determinism. While highly influential,

their work has been criticized by both orthodox Marxists and some

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Marxists involved in political practice for divorcing Marxist theory

from practical struggle and turning Marxism into a purely academic

enterprise.Other influential non-Bolshevik Marxists at that time

include Georg Lukacs, Walter Benjamin and Antonio Gramsci, who

along with the Frankfurt School are often known by the term

Western Marxism. Henryk Grossman, who elaborated the

mathematical basis of Marx's 'law of capitalist breakdown', was

another affiliate of the Frankfurt School. Also prominent during this

period was the Polish revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg.In 1949 Paul

Sweezy and Leo Huberman founded Monthly Review, a journal and

press, to provide an outlet for Marxist thought in the United States

independent of the Communist Party.In 1978, G. A. Cohen

attempted to defend Marx's thought as a coherent and scientific

theory of history by reconstructing it through the lens of analytic

philosophy. This gave birth to Analytical Marxism, an academic

movement which also included Jon Elster, Adam Przeworski and John

Roemer. Bertell Ollman is another Anglophone champion of Marx

within the academy.

FERDINAND TONNIES:

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Ferdinand Tönnies (1855-

1936) was a German

sociologist. He was a major

contributor to sociological

theory and field studies. His

distinction between two types

of social groups - Gemeinschaft

and Gesellschaft - is what

Tönnies is best known for. He

was, however, a prolific writer

and also co-founder of the

German Society for Sociology.

Tönnies distinguished between two types of social

groupings. Gemeinschaft often translated as community refers to

groupings based on a feeling of togetherness. Gesellschaft often

translated as society on the other hand, refers to groups that are

sustained by an instrumental goal. Gemeinschaft may by

exemplified by a family or a neighbourhood; Gesellschaft by a joint-

stock company or a state.

His distinction between social groupings is based on the assumption

that there are only two basic forms of an actor's will, to approve of

other men. Following his "essential will" ("Wesenwille"), an actor will

see himself as a means to serve the goals of social grouping; very

often it is an underlying, subconscious force. Groupings formed

around an essential will are called a Gemeinschaft. The other will is

the "arbitrary will" ("Kürwille"): An actor sees a social grouping as a

means to further his individual goals; so it is purposive and future-

oriented. Groupings around the latter are called Gesellschaft.

Whereas the membership in a Gemeinschaft is self-fulfilling, a

Gesellschaft is instrumental for its members. In pure sociology

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theoretically these two normal types of will are to be strictly

separated; in applied sociology empirically they are always mixed.

The important books :

Gemeinschalf and Gessellschaft (1887)

Introduction to Sociology (1936)

Types of social norms stated by Tonnies: Law, Moral rules, Mores

and Conventions.

TALCOTT PARSONS:

Talcott Parsons (1902-82) was for

many years the best-known

sociologist in the United States,

and indeed one of the best-

known in the world. He produced

a general theoretical system for

the analysis of society that came

to b Parsons' analysis was largely

developed within his major

published works called structural

functionalism.

The Structure of Social Action (1937),

The Social System (1951),

Structure and Process in Modern Societies (1960),

Sociological Theory and Modern Society (1968),

Politics and Social Structure (1969).

Parsons was an advocate of "grand theory," an attempt to integrate

all the social sciences into an overarching theoretical framework. His

early work"The Structure of Social Action"reviewed the output of his

great predecessors, especially Max Weber, Vilfredo Pareto, and

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Émile Durkheim, and attempted to derive from them a single "action

theory" based on the assumptions that human action is voluntary,

intentional, and symbolic. Later, he became intrigued with, and

involved in, an astonishing range of fields: from medical sociology

(where he developed the concept of the sick role to psychoanalysis-

personally undergoing full training as a lay analyst) to anthropology,

to small group dynamics to race relations and then economics and

education.

Parsons is also well known for his idea that every group or society

tends to fulfill four "functional imperatives".

adaptation to the physical and social environment;

goal attainment, which is the need to define primary goals and enlist

individuals to strive to attain these goals;

integration, the coordination of the society or group as a cohesive

whole;

Latency, maintaining the motivation of individuals to perform their

roles according to social expectations.

Parsons contributed to the field of social evolutionism and

neoevolutionism. He divided evolution into four sub processes:

division, which creates functional subsystems from the main

system;

adaptation, where those systems evolve into more efficient

versions;

inclusion of elements previously excluded from the given systems;

and

Generalization of values, increasing the legitimization of the ever-

more complex system.

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Furthermore, Parsons explored these sub processes within three

stages of evolution:

1) Primitive

2) Archaic

3) Modern (where archaic societies have the knowledge of writing,

while modern have the knowledge of law).

Parsons viewed the Western civilisation as the pinnacle of modern

societies, and out of all western cultures he declared the United

States as the most dynamically developed. For this, he was attacked

as an ethnocentrism. Parsons' late work focused on a new

theoretical synthesis around four functions common (he claimed) to

all systems of action-from the behavioural to the cultural, and a set

of symbolic media that enable communication across them. His

attempt to structure the world of action according to a mere four

concepts was too much for many American sociologists, who were at

that time retreating from the grand pretensions of the 1960s to a

more empirical, grounded approach.

Pattern variables

Parsons asserted that there were two dimensions to societies:

instrumental and expressive. By this he meant that there are

qualitative differences between kinds of social interaction.

Essentially, he observed that people can have personalized and

formally detached relationships based on the roles that they play.

The characteristics that were associated with each kind of

interaction he called the pattern variables Some examples of

expressive societies would include families, churches, clubs, crowds,

and smaller social settings. Examples of instrumental societies

would include bureaucracies, aggregates, and markets.

Affectivity Vs affective neutrality : When actor is oriented

towards maximum satisfaction from a given choice.

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Particularism Vs.Universalism: Situations are judged according

to uniform criteria (universalism) and not according to actor or

individuals relation with the given subject(particularism).

Quality Vs Performance : Defining people on the basis of

biological difference and performance is judging people

according to their performance and capacity.

Self orientation Vs Collective Orientation when the actor acts

out of personal interest it is self orientation.

MAX WEBER:

Max Weber was born in 1864

and he too was considered by

some to be the father of

sociology. Weber looked at

sociology in terms of it being

an extensive science of social

action and in the beginning

he would only focus on

specific social

Contexts. Somewhat in contrast to this belief, he later believed

that one of the most distinguishing characteristics of a society is

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their change or shift in motivation that is caused by structural or

historical forces.

The concept of the ideal-type came about so the sociologists and

others would have a method to do historical-comparative studies.

The ideal-type is mainly discussing Moral ideals. Weber used this

method to form an ideal-type bureaucracy with the following:

hierarchy, impersonality, written rules of conduct, promotion

based on achievement, specialized division of labor, and

efficiency. Weber defined such bureaucracies as goal oriented

organizations designed according to rational principles in order to

efficiently attain their goals (Verstehen). Weber saw many

advantages in bureaucracies but he also saw that sometimes the

power shifted only to those at the top and resulted in an

oligarchy.

Rationalization is a process in which a person enters, applying

practical knowledge to achieve an end. Rationalization is a large

part of Weber's theories on bureaucracy. This is also where

Weber and Marx begin to agree on some of the models of

organization and rationalization. Both socialism and capitalism

are the rational forms of sciences and organizations.

Weber also discussed authority. Weber sought to know what

gave the power to one individual to be able to claim authority

over another individual, such as man over woman. He also used

the ideal-type to explain this in terms of traditional authority

(pre-modern), rational-legal authority (modern), and charismatic.

Max Weber said that sociology is a science that is concerned with

a social action and the course and/or consequences of the action.

He had a large influence on many of the ideas that are used in

sociology today. Max Weber died in 1920.

JANE ADDAMS:

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The lack of documentation of Addams

as a sociologist is due to a number of

factors. Looking first at her own ideas,

she was opposed to academic

sociology, elitism, patriarchy, and

intellectualism. Each of these belief

systems is intrinsic to the assumptions

of sociology as it was practiced after

World War I. Although she considered

herself a sociologist, she wanted the

profession

To develop in a radically different direction than it did. Addams

was the greatest woman sociologist of her day. The fact that she

was female is vital, for sociology had a sex-segregated system.

After World War I, these two tracks within the profession split into

social work as female-dominated and sociology as male-

dominated. Almost all the women trained in Chicago Sociology

prior to 1918were ultimately channelled into social work

positions. Discrimination against hiring women in academic

sociology departments was rampant. The major professional

association, the American Sociological Society (ASS), limited

women's participation in most of its offices and programs; and

the social thought developed after 1918, especially at the

University of Chicago, was dramatically patriarchal and opposed

to Addams' vision. An applied, professional component of

sociology died when Addams' severance from sociology occurred,

and it has never become a respected alternative to sociologists in

the academy. Other social sciences, like geography, economics,

and history have developed more than one professional career

line, but sociology failed to do this to any considerable extent.

Finally, despite the extensive scholarly and popular study of

Addams' life, it is extremely difficult to trace her influence on

sociological thought. Because many sociologists claim that she is

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not a sociologist while many social workers claim that she is a

social worker, it has appeared that Addams' "professional home"

has been found. It is as if people assume she must be one or the

other! This assumption has led to a profound misunderstanding

of Addams' intellectual contributions and impact on sociology.

There is absolutely no attempt here to minimize her impact on

social work. Social workers correctly acknowledge Addams as a

major thinker and professional model. The problem lies not with

social workers but with sociologists. Addams was a preeminent

sociologist, and an understanding of her role in sociology is

integral to an understanding of this profession. To undertake any

analysis of the role of women sociologists or the sociological

study of women during the era of interest in this book, Addams

‘sociological career and concepts must be considered. When

Addams is limited to membership in only one field, social work,

the impact she had on sociology is entirely overlooked.

Concomitantly, there is an unstated assumption that her ideas

and model for action were adopted by social workers and

rejected by sociologists. Instead of this dichotomy between two

different specialties, a complex pattern of incorporating and

modifying her ideas in each profession has occurred. It is beyond

the scope or intent of this book to trace Addams' influence on

social work; the task of discovering her role in sociology is

difficult enough.

Addams' influence on sociology must often be inferred because

most early sociologists rarely cited the work of their closest

colleagues. This has been a problem in documenting the

interaction among all the early Chicago men. People who co-

authored writings or trained students together, such as Park and

Burgess, are easily seen as important colleagues. But people who

spoke to argued that societies evolved much like living

organisms, moving from a simple state to a more complex one

resembling the workings of complex machines. Durkheim

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reversed this formula adding his theory to the growing pool of

theories of social progress, social evolutionism and social

darwinism. He argued that traditional societies were 'mechanical'

and were held together by the fact that everyone was more or

less the same, and hence had things in common. In traditional

societies, argues Durkheim, the collective consciousness entirely

subsumes individual consciousness-social norms are strong and

social behavior is well-regulated.In modern societies, he argued,

the highly complex division of labor resulted in 'organic'

solidarity. Different specializations in employment and social

roles created dependencies that tied people to one another, since

people no longer could count on filling all of their needs by

themselves. In 'mechanical' societies, for example, subsistence

farmers live in communities which are self-sufficient and knit

together by a common heritage and common job. In modern

'organic' societies, workers earn money, and must rely on other

people who specialize in certain products (groceries, clothing,

etc.) to meet their needs. The result of increasing division of

labor, according to Durkheim, is that individual consciousness

emerges distinct from collective consciousness-often finding itself

in conflict with collective consciousness.Durkheim also made an

association of the kind of solidarity in a given society and the

preponderance of a law system. He found that in societies with

mechanical solidarity the law is generally repressive: the agent of

a crime or deviant behaviour would suffer a punishment, that in

fact would compensate collective conscience neglected by the

crime-the punishment acts more to preserve the unity of

consciences. On the other hand, in societies with organic

solidarity the law is generally restitutive: it aims not to punish,

but instead to restitute normal activity of a complex society.The

rapid change in society due to increasing division of labor thus

produces a state of confusion with regard to norms and

increasing impersonality in social life, leading eventually to

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relative normlessness, i.e. the breakdown of social norms

regulating behavior; Durkheim labels this state anomie. From a

state of anomie come all forms of deviant behavior, most notably

suicide.

Durkheim developed the concept of anomie later in Suicide,

published in 1897. In it, he explores the differing suicide rates

among Protestants and Catholics, explaining that stronger social

control among Catholics results in lower suicide rates. According

to Durkheim, people have a certain level of attachment to their

groups, which he calls social integration. Abnormally high or low

levels of social integration may result in increased suicide rates;

low levels have this effect because low social integration results

in disorganized society, causing people to turn to suicide as a last

resort, while high levels cause people to kill themselves to avoid

becoming burdens on society. According to Durkheim, Catholic

society has normal levels of integration while Protestant society

has low levels. This work has influenced proponents of control

theory, and is often mentioned as a classic sociological study.

Finally, Durkheim is remembered for his work on 'primitive' (i.e.

non-Western) people in books such as his 1912

volume Elementary Forms of the Religious Life and the

essayPrimitive Classification that he wrote with Marcel Mauss.

These works examine the role that religion and mythology have

in shaping the worldview and personality of people in extremely

(to use Durkheim's phrase) 'mechanical' societies.Durkheim was

also very interested in education. Partially this was because he

was professionally employed to train teachers, and he used his

ability to shape curriculum to further his own goals of having

sociology taught as widely possible. More broadly, though,

Durkheim was interested in the way that education could be used

to provide French citizens the sort of shared, secular background

that would be necessary to prevent anomie in modern societies.

It was to this end that he also proposed the formation of

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professional groups to serve as a source of solidarity for

adults.Durkheim argued that education has many functions:

1. To reinforce social solidarity

History: Learning about individuals who have done good things

for the many makes an individual feel insignificant.

Pledging Allegiance: Makes individuals feel part of a group and

therefore less likely to break rules.

each other with great frequency, visited each other's homes, and

engaged in organizational work together have few records of

their shared interests that are easily accessible to scholars who

study only published writings. Academic sociologists tend to rely

heavily on academic publications, organizations, and institutions

while overlooking applied sociology that is directed to non-

academic audiences, organizations, and institutions. For applied

sociologists such as Addams, indications of mutual influence

must often be sought in non-academic records. Original archival

data containing correspondence, newspaper reports, and

organizational records relevant to applied sociology can help to

fill the gaps in our academic documentation. Such alternative

resources are particularly vital in a situation like Addams' where

her influence has been buried over the course of several

decades.

EMILE DURKHIEM:

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Emile Durkheim (1858 -

1917) was concerned

primarily with how societies

could maintain their integrity

and coherence in the modern

era, when things such as

shared religious and ethnic

background could no longer

be assumed. In order to study

social life in modern societies,

Durkheim sought to create one of the first scientific approaches

to social phenomena. Along with Herbert Spencer, Durkheim was

one of the first people to explain the existence and quality of

different parts of a society by reference to what function they

served in keeping the society healthy and balanced-a position

that would come to be known as functionalism. Durkheim also

insisted that society was more than the sum of its parts. Thus

unlike his contemporary Max Weber, he focused not on what

motivates the actions of individual people (methodological

individualism), but rather on the study of social facts, a term

which he coined to describe phenomena which have an existence

in and of themselves and are not bound to the actions of

individuals. He argued that social facts had an independent

existence greater and more objective than the actions of the

individuals that composed society and could only be explained by

other social facts rather than, say, by society's adaptation to a

particular climate or ecological niche. In his 1893 work “ The

division of labour society”, Durkheim examined how social order

was maintained in different types of societies. He focused on the

division of labor, and examined how it differed in traditional

societies and modern societies. Authors before him such as

Herbert Spencer and Ferdinand Toennies had

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2. To maintain social roles

School is a society in miniature. It has a similar hierarchy, rules,

expectations to the "outside world". It trains young people to

fulfill roles.

3. To maintain division of labour.

Sorts students out into skill groups. Teaches students to go into

work depending on what they're good at.

MANUEL CASTELLS:

Manuel Castells born

in Hellín, Albacete, Spain, in 1942) is

a sociologist especially associated with

information society and communications

research. He is a member of

the International Ethical, Scientific and

Political Collegium, a leadership and

expertise organisation for developing

means of overcoming the problems to

establishing a peaceful, socially-just, and

economically-sustainable world.

The sociological work of Prof. Manuel Castells Oliván synthesises

empirical research literature with combinations of urban

sociology, organization studies, internet studies, social

movements, sociology of culture, and political economy. About

the origins of the network society, he posits that changes to the

network form of enterprise predate the electronic internet

technologies associated with network organisation forms

Moreover, he coined the term “The Fourth World”, denoting the

sub-population socially excluded from the global society; usual

usage denotes the nomadic, pastoral, and hunter-gatherer ways

of life beyond the contemporary industrial society norm.

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In the 1970s, following the path of Alain Touraine Castells was a

key developer of the variety of Marxist urban sociology that

emphasises the role of social movements in the conflictive

transformation of the city, He introduced the concept of

"collective consumption" comprehending a wide range of social

struggles — displaced from the economic stratum to the political

stratum via state intervention. Transcending Marxist strictures in

the early 1980s, he concentrated upon the role of new

technologies in the restructuring of an economy. In 1989, he

introduced the concept of the "space of flows", the material and

immaterial components of global information networks used for

the real-time, long-distance co-ordination of the economy. In the

1990s, he combined his two research strands in The Information

Age: Economy, Society and Culture, published as a trilogy, The

Rise of the Network Society (1996), The Power of Identity (1997),

and End of Millennium (1998); two years later, its worldwide,

favourable critical acceptance in university seminars, prompted

publication of a second (2000) edition that is 40 per cent different

from the first (1996) edition.

The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture comprehends

three sociologic dimensions — production, power,

and experience — stressing that the organisation of the economy,

of the state and its institutions, and the ways that people create

meaning in their lives through collective action, are irreducible

sources of social dynamics — that must be understood as both

discrete and inter-related entities. Moreover, he became an

established cybernetic culture theoretician with

his Internet development analysis stressing the roles of the state,

social movements and business, in shaping the economic

infrastructure according to their interests. The Information

Age trilogy is his précis: "Our societies are increasingly structured

around the bipolar opposition of the Net and the Self"; the “Net”

denotes the network organisations replacing vertically-integrated

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hierarchies as the dominant form of social organization,

the Self denotes the practices a person uses in reaffirming

social identity and meaning in a continually changing cultural

landscape.

DAVID HARVAYE:

David Harvey was born in St.

Louis, Missouri, August 18, 1936,

and spent his formative years in

Wood River, Illinois, a "factory

town" surviving on the largess of

Standard Oil of Indiana. His father

was a pipe fitter and a militant

trade unionist. Harvey received all

three degrees from the University

of Illinois, where he was taught his

craft by a diverse group of

scholars.

Chief among these were sociologists such as: Bernard Farber, family and

kinship; Bernard Karsh, industrial and economic sociology; Joseph

Gusfield, social movements; David Bordua and Daniel Glazer, delinquency

and criminology; Louis Schneider, social theory; and Bernard Lazerwitz,

statistics and survey research. His minor field of concentration was social

anthropology. He took courses in the Anthropology Department from F.K.

Lehmann, kinship and structuralist method; Ed Bruner, culture and

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personality; and Julian Stewart, social evolution and cultural ecology.

Arriving at the University of Nevada in 1968 and working in an

atmosphere of relative freedom, Harvey developed a sociological

perspective grounded in Marxist materialism and the dialectical methods

of Frankfurt sociology. During the last two decades he has done research

in these traditions.

Between 1970 and 1980, he conducted research on subjective alienation,

or reified consciousness. Working with professor Lyle G. Warner and

Elizabeth Safford Harvey, this research has produced several articles on

the social psychological scaling and measurement of reified

consciousness, and the structural antecedents of alienated subjectivity. In

the eighties, he returned to poverty research, the area in which he had

written his dissertation. Out of this latter work has come a community

ethnography of a poor white slum entitled Potter Addition: Poverty,

Family, and Kinship in a Heartland Community. A second volume, Potter

Addition: The Social History of a Heartland Slum is now in progress. A third

volume is now in the planning stage. It documents the rise and fall of the

Lincoln Republic as it played out in the Illinois Midlands.

Recently, Harvey has co-authored several papers on a variety of topics

with Dean Mike Reed of UNR's College of Business Administration. The

general focus of their work involves a rethinking of the social scientific

significance of Marxist materialism, Hegelian dialectics, and the

productivist ontology undergirding both. This rethinking has led them to

adopt a critical philosophy of science position based on the critical

naturalist methods and realist ontology of Roy Bhaskar. This refocusing

has coincided with a growing interest in two substantive fields of enquiry--

chaos theory and social evolution, and has produced several articles on

chaos theory and its application in the social sciences.

Harvey continues to explore the synthetic possibilities chaos theory has

for sociological research. One such project works from Jack Goody's

comparative research on the evolution of the European family to construct

a chaos-based analysis of the social evolution of Western kinship's

domestic domain. Such a project employs the historical materialist

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paradigm, and, as such, is inherently critical of Claude Lévi-Strauss's

linguistically-based alliance theory of kinship systems. Finally, a second

project, still in the planning stages, attempts to apply some of the more

elementary modeling techniques of chaos theory to explore the iterative

dynamics of Marx's theory of capitalist crises as it is formulated in Volume

III of Capital

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sociology assign1

Documents

scope of sociology

social behaviour

social sciences

simmel sociology

forms of social relationships

social mobility

social stratification

social class