INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit. What is Sociology? The social science discipline that...

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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit

Transcript of INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit. What is Sociology? The social science discipline that...

Page 1: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit. What is Sociology?  The social science discipline that looks at the development and structure of human society.

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Our Last Unit

Page 2: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit. What is Sociology?  The social science discipline that looks at the development and structure of human society.

What is Sociology?

The social science discipline that looks at the development and structure of human society and how it works

Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behaviour

Page 3: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit. What is Sociology?  The social science discipline that looks at the development and structure of human society.

Auguste Comte

The term “sociology” was first used by French philosopher August Comte

One of his most important contributions to sociology is the notion of positivism, the strict application of the scientific method to obtain quantifiable data in order to understand society

Page 4: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit. What is Sociology?  The social science discipline that looks at the development and structure of human society.

So what do sociologists study? Sociologists investigate the structure of

groups, organizations, and societies and how people interact within these contexts

Sociologists are interested in the cultural expressions of a society: the shared symbols and learned behaviours that everyone in a society recognizes and understands

Page 5: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit. What is Sociology?  The social science discipline that looks at the development and structure of human society.

The roles we play

We all play certain roles in our society – Social scientists refer to this as status

Status is the term used to describe our position within an institution

Page 6: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY Our Last Unit. What is Sociology?  The social science discipline that looks at the development and structure of human society.

Hierarchy The ranking system used in any particular

environment based on authority or power Each position or role requires a certain type

of expertise which is valued by society In order to distinguish between these roles

people are expected to dress and act in a certain way

On any given day we can play many roles

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Rules, Norms and Values

Values: shared ideas and standards that are considered acceptable and binding

Norms: expectations about how people should behave

Rules: these are developed by cultures based on their system of values

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Deviance

Any behaviour that is different from the societal norm. It is deviant because we, as a society, do not accept it

Deviance can range from simple eccentricities to behaviour that harms society

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Rehabilitation

Sociology has formed a strong link with the justice system

A fundamental component of modern imprisonment is rehabilitation, or trying to re-educate and re-socialize inmates so that they can grow to accept society’s values and norms