CYW 129- Understanding Society In the following discourse multiple theories and perspectives within sociology will be outlined. How each perspective looks at society will be explored while providing explanations of theories within each perspective. The importance of social theory within community and youth work and how applies to practice will be explained using a case study. Before looking at social theory it is important to firstly look at sociology. Sociology is the study of people and their behaviours, values, and power within society. August Compte (1798-1857) was one of the founders of sociology. Compte believed that the development of society could be looked at via ‘rational theories’ or in a scientific manner. Social theories are analytical frameworks that focus on examining social phenomena. They explain how theorist can explain social patterns. (Webb et al.,2015). Theories look at “how societies change and develop, about methods of explaining social behaviour, about power and social structure, gender and ethnicity, modernity and ‘civilisation’, revolutions and utopias’ (Harrington, 2005, p.1). …show more content…
These are Macrosociology (Macro) and Microsociology (Micro). Macro sociology focus upon the social system while looking at society as a whole. It looks at how interactions within different types of social institutions, structures, economic system, and cultures impact upon the behaviour of individuals within society. Macro perspective can be divided into two focus areas, Conflict theory and Consensus theory which in turn allowed perspectives such as Functionalism and Marxism to explore how society changes and develops (Giddens and Sutton,
The sociological imagination allows a person to tell apart their personal problems from problems that affect society as a whole, however they can see how the two are connected. In doing this a person can discover that the current social structure and culture that surrounds them can be the root cause of their personal problems. One example is that an individual can see their personal problem of being poor as also the outcome of lack of resources in their community for obtaining higher education. Rather than seeing their problem as only something that affects him, he can see that various elements of his culture and the social structure surrounding him play into his
Sociology is the study of the development, structure and functioning society. Sociology is all around us, it 's what we say, what we do, what we watch on TV, and what we see in our everyday lives. Sociology is a broad term, because there are many different words that associate with Sociology including family, relationships, media, gender, and crime. While sociology is all around us, a common place where we might witness ideas that come from sociology is right at home on our televisions. A popular show that displays a perfect example of sociology right now is Keeping up with the Kardashians.
C. Wright Mills puts forth in Ch. 1 “The Promise” that the discipline of sociology is focused primarily on the ability to distinguish between an individuals “personal troubles” and the “public issues” of one’s social structure. In the context of a contemporary society, he argues that such issues can be applied by reappraising what are products of an individual’s milieu and what are caused by the fabric of a society. The importance of this in a contemporary society is that it establishes the dichotomy that exists between an individual’s milieu and the structure of their very society.
The conflict theory is a macro-level theory where theorists look at the unequal distribution of resources such as money, power, education, and social prestige. Those who are wealthier and more educated than others in the society hold more power over those who are not wealthy or as educated. Conflict theorists see this a lot in the educational system, where inequality is shown through the materials in the school, teachers in the classrooms, and topics being taught. This type of inequality leads to learning differences that emphasizes social inequalities. Macro-level sociology is looking at the bigger picture of the social process, such as stability and change throughout society.
Introduction Great thinkers, including Plato and Aristotle opened the doors to studying society; they based their thoughts on creating an “ideal society”. The science of Sociology was later developed in the early 19th century by Auguste Comte, who coined the word “Sociology”. He began to study society, using “critical thinking”. Comte believed that only by really understanding society could we begin to change it.
QUESTION THREE Thinking sociologically allows people to look past what is deemed as “common sense”. Social problems are often widely mis-explained due to not thinking critically about the problems we see in society. For example, when someone commits a crime and they appear on the news, people often look at the person as the main problem saying, “they must be really screwed up,” instead of looking deeper into that person’s past and how they got to that point in their life. This is what sociology aims to do, rather than diagnose the person as broken, sociology looks at society to see where it is broken and causing other problems.
The tensions that emerge between the focus of a group and ordinary people both have claims of having more impact than the other. Even though the globe has evolved it 's about the divide between the ones who grow with advances and the ones who are left behind. Social theorist look into the everyday realities of the world through perspectives on society. Each person’s gender, society class, and nationality are encountered with a particular context or junction where several social categories intercept, called intersexuality. One cannot gain knowledge just but looking at a single thing, like only social class.
a. Sociology is the study of the social relationships that affect the humans as well as institutions. It involves many fields of study that include crime, religion, family, race, culture and society among others. It is the primary purpose of sociology to provide linkage to all of these different subjects to help in understanding how humans behave (Smith, 2016). b. Sociological enquiry is the careful analysis of the motivational factors as well as the behavior of a certain individual within a particular group of people. The primary objective of sociological inquiry is to reveal an understanding of the social world that is readily observable.
Sociology is the study of the society and human behavior whereas, the word perspective can be defines as a view of things in their true connection or importance. Hence, the social perspectives provide standpoints used to look at human behavior and interaction as they relate to individuals and groups within society. The social perspective emphasizes that to understand humans for not what is inside of them, but what’s influencing them that should be observed. There are four theoretical perspectives used to understand society and human behavior. The four discussed here are structure functional, consensus and conflict, the gender problem and symbolic interaction.
Critical Thought Response: Part 1: Chapter 1: Introducing Sociology “In what sense is sociology a science? How does sociology differ from a natural science such as physics?” “-ology” originates from the Greek term “lógos” and means “the study of”. Sociology applies the use of scientific methods; therefore, it can be classified as a science. More specifically, it is a social science and can be described as the logical analysis of human behaviour in a societal setting.
INTRODUCTION This is a key framework of sociological theory. It depend on symbols and their meaning. The words we use to describe our behaviour and the behaviour of others is very important. To elaborate further and get into detail about this theory, firstly the theory and key terms have to be defined, secondly the major proponents and tenets, thirdly the history of the theory, fourthly the purpose of the theory, fifthly the significance of the theory for social work practice, followed by the epistemology, consistency with social work values and ethics, implication of the theory, position of the theory on the population served by the social worker, strength and weakness, relevance of Intersectionality, critical perspective on contemporary issues
According to the Dictionary, Sociology is defined as the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society. This means that people are willing to study social problems throughout the world and the society that they live in. In my life, I deal with my social class, Gender, Race, Religion, and the time I was born. Because of who I am, I definitely have been a part of a different upbringing and lifestyle that many sociologist may find interesting.
It includes the need to understand the past events; the connection to the society in which we live in and personal life experiences in a particular setting with define values and customs. Sociological is an important element as it allows the society and individuals to relate to various circumstances in their daily activities at local and international levels that are paramount to them. The lack of ability to relate to these situations individuals would be unable to perceive the societal elements that affect them and thus cannot make the changes that would be essential in their lives. Throughout history, different countries have obtained various levels of social imagination and thrived. However, some are yet to experience it while others have already lost it.
While studying sociology, every individual will have a distinct perspective and depending on the particular subject, not everyone will have the same viewpoint on the topic at hand. With this, Sociology consists of many different approaches, commonly known as “Sociology theories” These theories are distinctive and diverse, providing a different perspective for understanding different situations in society. With there being a wide variety of approaches such as “Feminist,” “Labelling,” and “Critical,” for instance, the top three major approaches representing Sociology are, “Structural Functionalism,” “Conflict Theory,” and “Symbolic Interactionism.” This paper will be comparing the differences and similarities between “Structural-Functionalism” approach and the “Symbolic Interactionism” approach. To start
Sociology is the scientific study of human social relationships and interactions. Sociology 's subject matter is diverse. Subject matter for sociology ranges from the micro level of an individual and interaction to the macro level of systems and the social structure. At the society level, sociology examines and explains matters like crime and law, poverty and wealth, prejudice and discrimination, schools and education, business firms, urban community, and social movements. We can see these subject matters crystal clear as sociology ranges from crime to religion, from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture and from social stability to radical change in whole societies.