SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE

Unit 7Lesson 1

Introduction to Sociology

Learning Objectives

• To define the term ‘sociology’

• To identify key concepts in sociology

What is sociology?

The study of social behaviours.

Sociologists believe humans are social

animals…Challenges every day ‘common-sense’ or

traditional assumptions

Can you think of any examples?

E.g. Love and marriage

E.g. women look after the house, men bring in the

money

Why are women stereotyped to stay at home?

Why do people fall in love and

marry?

Health and illness – sociologists don’t look

just at biological factors as underpinning health

and illness

What do sociologists explore?

Sociology explores the human processes of social interactions through studying the relationship between:

Individuals

Groups

Social institutions

Social Structures• Society can be viewed as the sum of its social institutions.• May include;– Family– Friends– Education system– Work– Economic system– Political system– Religious groups– Health and social care services

• Sociologists look at;• the way these social institutions are structured– how they relate to each other– how they influence how we behave

E.g. they may examine how our family background may influence our values, attitudes, religious beliefs, educational achievements, employment prospects and our health and well-being.

Social Structures

• Draw a personal spider diagram identifying the social institutions to which you belong.

• Identify how to or three of these institutions have influenced your behaviour.

• In the groups on your table, discuss why you think these particular institutions have influenced you, and how.

ACTIVITY

Put the following list in order of which you think has the most influence on our values, attitudes and beliefs, to which one has the least influence.

Family Environment

Culture/sub-culturePolitical system

Education system

Income (money) available

Our peers Religious beliefs

How do sociologists explore?

By using sociological perspectives

FunctionalismMarxistInteractionistFeministPostmodernistNew RightCollectivism

Which areas of human life does sociology look at?

Crime

Family

Mass media

Religion

Health

Socialisation• Our language, values, beliefs, customs, and behaviour

surround us from birth and we take them as ‘truth’ when we are a small, weak and vulnerable child, totally dependent upon our adult carers for survival.

• Socialisation is the process of learning the skills and attitudes which enable individuals to live easily with other members of the community. It is the process through which people learn the norms and values of society.

• This socialisation process can be broken down into two distinct phases:

Socialisation Phases

PRIMARY SOCIALISATION

SECONDARY SOCIALISATION

Takes place from the very beginning and

comes from our immediate family.

Carries on when we start to leave the family home and begin school and the wider society.

Norms and Values

• What do you think a norm is?• Norms are social rules that define correct

behaviour in society.• Can you think of any examples of a norm?• What do you think a value is?

• Values are what are important to an individual or social group.

• Can you think of any examples of values?

Values

Norms

e.g. monogamy.

e.g. marriage, making a fuss of cheaters.

Sociologists are concerned with the study of human societies, but more specifically the groups within these societies and how these groups relate to each other and influence individual behaviour.

Sociologists use a number of different concepts, such as • Social Structure • Social Diversity• Socialisation

…to describe and explain the nature of society and how individuals become a part of it.

Back to institutions

Society

The family Health and

social care services

The education

system

The economy

Religious organisation

s The political system

Social Diversity

What do you think ‘Social Diversity’ refers to?

Differences of people within groups.

Can you think of any examples?

Society is a group of like minded people governed by shared norms

and values

Social DiversityHow are people socially diverse?

• Age • Gender

• Culture

• Ethnicity

• Social class

• Location

What do you think the benefits of having a diverse society are?

Structural Approaches

• Sometimes called social systems or structuralistic approaches.

• Emphasise the power of society over the individual.

• Believe the individual is largely controlled by society.

• Think that society is in us, moulding our thoughts and directing our actions.

• Argue that we are socialised in terms of the culture of society.

• Say that our behaviour is shaped by the social structure:– We are kept in line by mechanisms of social

control.– We learn roles, norms and values and act

accordingly.

Structural Approaches

Link to Health and Social Care

• This socialisation can vary from country to country, each with a very different way of seeing how a society should run.

• Hence in Britain we are seen as a ‘multicultural’ society in which there is very different socialisation processes at work.

Link to Health and Social Care

• Each of these will have both serious and subtle difference in their beliefs and behaviours so the professional health and social care worker must understand this basic sociological process in order to meet the different needs.

• WHERE DO YOU THINK PERSONAL BELIEFS/ VALUES COULD CAUSE CONFLICT IN HSC

CONTINUED

• ROCK STRATIFICATION

CONTINUED

• This stratification is seen as hierarchical with those at the top having considerably more advantages over those at the bottom and this greatly effects health and lifestyle.

• There have been various attempts to make society more ‘egalitarian’ where all members are equal but in general this has not yet worked very well.

• Look at the picture placed on your table and say what you see

What is a perspective?

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3 – What do you see? What is the girl doing?

Sociology

Structural Theory Action Theory

Consensus Conflict

Functionalism Marxism Feminism

Symbolic interactionism

(Interpretivism)

Theory can be said to be like looking at society through different lenses – each

give it a different perspective or appearance.