Sociology

ByDr. Utpal Sharma

Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Community Medicine, SMIMS

Introduction Medicine and social sciences have their own way of dealing

with human behaviour.

The term “social sciences” is applied to the disciplines which are committed to scientific study of human behaviour.

The social sciences are..1) Economics 2) Political science 3) Sociology4) Social psychology5) Anthropology

Of these last three are directly concerned with human behaviour and known as “behavioural sciences”

What we have got in social sciences….Economics It deals with human relationships in specific context of production,

distribution, consumption and ownership of resources, goods and services

Political science Deals with the study of systems of laws and institutions which government of

whole society

Sociology Study of human relationship and human behaviour for better understanding

of pattern of human life

Social Psychology Deals with effect of environment on persons, their attitudes and motivations

Social Anthropology Study of development of various types of social life(physical, social and

cultural) of man

So….what is sociology….??? Sociology is derived from the Latin socio, meaning society and the

Greek logos meaning science.

The word society is derived from the root words socius, meaning

individual and societa meaning group.

Medical Sociology includes studies of……

Medical profession

Relationship of medicine to public

Role of social factor in etiology, incidence, prevalence and

interpretation of diseases.Basically…..Sociology is t

he study of individual

as well as group in society.

Society : a group of individuals who have organized themselves and follow a given way of life.

Group of peoples coming together temporarily : crowd

If the same group of people settled down and organized themselves then they form a society.

The outstanding feature of society is system- a system of social relationship between individuals.

It regulates and controls the behaviour of individuals by customs and laws.

It can exert pressure on the individual to conform to its norms.

Then what is society….?????

Now…..what is a community….???

A community is a social group determined by geographical boundaries and/ or common values and interests.

Its members know and interacts with each other.

It functions within a particular social structure and exhibits and creates certain norms, values and social institutions.

Any individual belongs to the broader society through his/her family and community

Cont….

Communities can be ‘structural’ or ‘functional’

Functional communities Non-geographical aggregates, bound together by some common

factor other than geographical place of residence or work; e.g religion, occupation, special interest or need (as socially backward communities).

Structural communities These are organised by geographical or political boundaries.

It could be as small as an ‘indoor patient’s community in a hospital or increasingly larger, according to a mohalla, village, slum, city, district, state or even a nation.

Other things…..Social structure Refers to the pattern of relationship between persons

It is a complex of major institutions, group, power structure and status hierarchy

Social institution Organized complex pattern of behaviour in which a number

of persons participate in order to further group interest

Within each institution the rights and duties of members are defined

E.g school, church, club, political parties etc.

Role In a society, individuals are allocated roles. Sociologist have classified roles into “Ascribed” and “Achieved”

Ascribed roles Particular role “given” to an individual by a virtue of sex, age, and

birth status e.g husband,father

Acquired roles Particular role “acquired” by virtue of education or otherwise e.g

employee, teacher

When the individual falls sick he assumes “sick role” and expected to decrease his normal role, seek medical aid and carry out physician’s order

There is more…..Socialism Economic doctrine that favours the use of property and resources of

the country for public welfare

Motto of socialism is “all for all” and “each for each”

Socialization Every society has its beliefs, customs, traditions and prejudices

An individual living in the society acquires these by interacting with the people…..

…this process of acquiring culture and becoming the member of social group is “socialization”

Social Control Mechanisms In every society there are rules, formal and informal, for

the maintenance of relationships of authority and subordinations.

There are two types of control mechanisms “Formal” and “Informal”

Formal social control mechanisms In the field of health, there are various Acts, some central

and others state or local which help to maintain standards of health.

Informal social control mechanism The informal social pressure may be exerted by powerful

groups, individuals or friends. These mechanisms work largely through reward and

punishment.

Customs

The mere existence of a society, the mere plurality of individuals gives rise to customs.

Quite numerous and quite as powerful. Customs are technically divided into “Folkways” and ‘mores’.

Folkways The folkways are right ways of doing things in what is regarded as the less

vital areas of human conduct eg. Greeting “hello”

Mores The more stringent customs are called “mores”. The public takes active parts

in their enforcement eg. Rash driving

“Mores” dictate right and wrong, while folkways distinguish between proper and rude behavior.

Culture Culture : “learned behaviour which has been socially acquired”.

Product of human societies, includes all that person acquires in the mental and intellectual sphere of his individual and social life

Man is largely a product of his cultural environment.

Transmitted from one generation to another through learning processes both formal and informal.

Lays norms of behaviour and provision for individual and social survival of the individual

Culture stands for the customs, beliefs, laws, religion and moral precepts, arts and other capabilities and skills acquired by man as a member of society.

Acculturation

Acculturation means “culture contact”.

When there is contact between two people with different types of culture, there is diffusion of culture both ways.

There are various ways by which culture contact takes place. Trade and commerce Industrialization Propagation of religion, Education and Conquest

Radio , TV, cinema have been important factors in shaping the cultural-behavioural pattern of people

Standard of livingRefers to usual scale of expenditure consumptionof goods and the services enjoyed

Includes food, dress, amusements and all other modes of living

The standard of living in a country is depends upon1. The level of national income2. The total amount of goods and services a country is able to produce3. The size of the population4. The level of education5. General price level6. The distribution of national income

Social problems

In a community there are both individual and social problems.

Individual problems become social problems when they affect a large number of people amounting to a threat to the welfare or safety of the whole group.

But all individual problems are not social problems.

Poverty, crime and disease are common social problems.

Alcoholism, venereal diseases, mental illness and narcotic addiction are both public health and social problems.

Social pathology

Systematic study of human disease in relation to social conditions and disease process outside the human body

Describes the relation between disease and social conditions, commonly linked to poverty, crime, delinquency and vagrancy.

The social pathology has an important role in accident, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer etc.

Social Diagnosis is made by socio-medical surveys and by study of domestic and social conditions of individuals which discloses the social pathology.

Social Therapy offers holistic development-centered therapeutic and support services.

Social defence Covers the entire arena of preventive, therapeutic and

rehabilitative services for protection of the of the society from…..….antisocial deviant or criminal conduct of man

Includes measures like…. Prevention and control of juvenile delinquency Enactment against domestic violence Control of alcoholism and drug addiction etc.

It is system developed not only to protect society from these atrocities…..……but also to provide a conducive conditions for wholesome growth of human life

Thank you folks…for

your patience