Sociology Final
By: Elise Toland
5 topics of Sociology
1. Founders of Sociology
2. Socialization3. Culture
4. Sport
5. Gender Roles
Founders of Sociology
Auguste Comte- considered as the founder of sociology
-Came up with the term sociology used to describe this science. He came up with the terms positivism and distinguished the difference between social statistics and social dynamics.
-He published a book with all of his theories called Postive Philosophy
2. Harriet Martineau- after have a terrible upbringing she put all of her work into the study of sociology.
- Her best-known work today is her translation of Comte's Positive Philosophy.
- She has established herself as a "pioneering feminist theorist." She wrote about how society treats women wrong which created a strong group of feminist theorists.
3. Herbert Spencer- an English school teacher that compared society to the human body.
-Introduced another theory of social change called social Darwinism.
-But he did cause a lot of conflict with the social structure with all his studies and most people said he died having failed, but his contributed is distributed of now of how societies should be structured.
4. Karl Marx- a german professor that took up philosophy and them became an editor of a radical newspaper.
-His main study showed his concern for poverty and inequality which suffered by the working class.
- Only people that will be successful are the bourgeoisie (rich) who are the capitalists. The proletariat (poor) just work for them.
-This has started a history of class conflict and was a huge outbreak in socitey.
5. Emile Durkheim- believe that society only exists because of agreements of a member of a society which is called mechanical solidarity.
-Organic solidarity is social interference based on highly specialized roles
-He also researched society with suicide with some groundbreaking research.
6. Jane Adams- the best know social reformer in the United States.
-The main focus was the on the imbalances of power among the social class.
-She was very active in woman suffrage issues and peace movements and this with the help of all her research in sociology got her a noble peace prize in 1931 the first sociologist to ever receive one.
Socialization
2. Your socialization of yourself is your identity that makes you different from other people. Your self-concept is based on people's judgment and the people that you spend time with. It's important to spend time with people and surround yourself at a young age so you start to develop into socialization. An example for this the little girl Gene. She was locked away almost all of her life and we saw what desolation can do to a person. You have to be able to feel loved to develop the great qualities. Being able to see yourself through someone else's eyes is a great role in socialization.
3. The agents of socialization are family, religion, schools, peer groups, and media. Exposing your child to the following things helps them grasp who they are their beliefs You are taught the be mature members of society and learning the moral and values of a lifetime.
4. In the movies, Castaway we saw how a grown man already accepted into society lose it all after being deserted on an island for 4 years. With no one to talk to expect a volleyball named Willson, it this a perfect example of what can happen to a person if they aren't socilized. This really messed with Chuck in the movie and it was hard to cope with being alone for such a long time.
5. Socialization doesn't just happen all at once. There are many different stages of your life cycle: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age, and death.
a. Childhood- socially constructed concepts. Depending on location, culture, and time, people have different notations of childhood. Today, we view children as independent and in need of guidance, protection, and schooling.
b. Adolescence- usually have an unidentified status, They face the challenge of increasing decision making, They are often expected to demonstrate responsible behavior related to study habits, dating, interaction with older and younger siblings, and team efforts such as sports. The challenge increased decision making often results in increased feelings of pressure. They have a state of self-identity. They are neither dependent or independent.
c Aduluthood- Time to settle down and be independent.
d. Death- the 5 stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
6. Having to be realized is almost as hard as becoming socialised in the first place. Being set back that far is hard to come back to. For example, the little boy that thought he was a dog had a very hard time learning how to be a normal kid. So many factors come into play but the most important one is being social as a kid to be able to have a stable future.
Culture
2. A big part of a culture is nature vs nurture. Nature vs nurture is some kind of opinion and people look at it differently. Nature can be personality and talent and an example of nature is intelligence because your surroundings can influence your intelligence.
3. The 3 basic types of norms are folkways, mores, and laws.
Folkways- rules that cover customary ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving but lack moral overtones, for example, sleeping in a bed instead of the floor.
Mores- are the norms of a great moral significance and are vital to the well-being of a society. An example would be Americans believe that able-bodied men should work.
Laws- are the norms that are formally defined and enforced by officials. Example: It's not against the law to cheat on an exam, although you may be suspended or punished by the teacher
4. Values are very important in culture because they are the broad ideas about what more people in society consider to be desirable. They have a tremendous influence on human social behavior because they form the basis for norms.
5.What are norms and how do they change our culture? Norms are rules that define behavior. They change society with the three factors,
1. invention, the creation of new cultural elements, including both objects and ideas
2. discovery. or better understanding of something already know
3. diffusion, the spread of culture elements from one culture to antoher ideas.
6. The nonmaterial culture involves many beliefs, knowledge, and ideas. The material culture is how was related to physical objects. Norms, values, knowledge, ideas (nonmaterial, and physical objects (material) make up a culture.
Sport
2. In our American society sports reflect the emphasis of the culture on achievement. Sadly, the male gender usually dominates the world of sports as with other aspects of sociology. But the thing is evolving and some women teams are getting more praise and respect than some of the men's teams.
3. The subcultures of sports are within the larger group context of a sport that has its own distinct roles, values, and norms. It's the relationship between sport, socitey, and culture. Along with the subculture of sport, the implications include social intgery, fair play, physical fitnesss, academics, and social mobility.
4. The 4 ways sports are a working function in society is that sports teach basic belifes, norms, and vaules. They promote sense of social idenification, offer a safe release of aggressive feelings generated by frustrations, anxieties and strains of a modern life, and lastly sports encourage the development of character. Functionalist believes that sports are primarily important because it helps society work more smoothly.
5. Sports can also display some negative effects as well, such as cheating, manipulation, cocerce, and the exploitation of others. They negative effects of putting young kids in sports can be tied to interests that they won't contribute more to the profit than the eternal well-being of society and loss of self-estem. Some often fail to have a career plan because they were so involved with sports and once they stop they have to go back to realilty.
6. Lastly there have been a lot of race issues in sports. African Americans used to have to play in a league of their own and not allowed to have the same treatment that other white players were reciving, specifically white males. But the enviable was happening and African Americans were being integrated into sports. Jackie Robinson taught us to never give up when it comes to your dream and don't care what everyone else says.
Gender Roles
2. Most Americans believe that men and women are different from their sex. Women are believed to be more providing and protective while the men are strong and agressive. This causes men and women to be treated very differently especially in the first few months of birth.
3.Some common stereotypes aginst men and women are; Women are considered fragile, shy, pretty, passive, earn less money, shouldn't be politicians, responsible for children, flirts, weaker than men and associated with the color pink. Men stereotypes include, strong have "dirty jobs", lazy, intellagent, don't help around the house, not nurse doctors, and like cars and the color blue.
4. Even in little kid movies, it is starting showing kids that girls and boys are separate and act different and don't like the same things. For example, in the movie Beauty and the Beast Belle is very fragile, smart, quite, clean, weak, scared, and likes to clean. While Gaston is the big man and is strong, handsome, intelligent, daring, and popular.
5. Young girls and boys learn to behave as their parents expect for them too. From this, it comes to gender identity which is an awareness of being masculine or feminine, bases on cultre. Sociologist Margaret Anderen captures the difference between sex and gender and said, " Sociologists use the term gender to refer specifically to the social and cultural patterned that we associate with women in society. Sex refers to the biological identity of the person and is meant to signify the fact that one is either male or female.
6. Nature vs nature comes into play as well. Depneding on what kind of society that you are from is your overview of socitey. So does biology or does socialization play a greater role in gender differences? Research by many sociologists and other investigators is aimed at answering these questions scientifcally. The definitions of masculinity and feminity are now based on reaseach, no just on the common knowledge.
Connections
Similar to Life
Founders- The founders put everything in perspective for us. As we learn about them in school we realize how much time they put into their work.
Socialization- In high school kids are usually pretty social. This relates to us because we are in the adolescent stage and trying to figure out where we are with the social aspect of our society.
Culture- culture is everywhere and we deal with it every day without even noticing.
Sports- are also every where especially in highschool. Some feel almost obligated to play sports because of the community that they live in.
Gender Roles- we deal with gender roles and gender inequality almost every day at school, on social media, and on tv.
Current Events
Sports are a very big thing in our society today. Our sports are somewhat more expecting of all races because anyone can play whatever sport they want. At the Olympics, Ryan Loche was caught lying about being robbed. People can do pretty crazy stuff and do whatever it takes to win.