Sociology Essays

‘Representation’ is a key theoretical term of Durkheim’s sociology. He never defined what he meant by the term, perhaps because it was so commonly used and accepted by philosophers of his day. The noun representation is generally associated with an adjective: collective, cultural, social, and mental; said adjectives qualify a different meaning of the concept in various disciplines, although sometimes they are intertwined. In fact, every discipline has brought its own specificity. The concept of representation arises in sociology with Emile Durkheim, who first proposed it together with the adjective ‘collective’, to detect the deep bond existing between this concept and another key one for French sociologist, that of “collective Consciousness. The Collective consciousness is the set of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of the same society forms a specific system. Durkheim divides representations into various kinds such as empirical representation,

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. In this Essay I will compare and contrast two major theoretical perspectives in Sociology. The Functionalist theory of Emile Durkheim and the Marxist theory of Karl Marx (Giddens, 2009, p. 72)

In general, Sociology is a scientific study that involves the human social behaviour which is shaped by the society, whereby it is a system of interrelations which connects individuals together to create a unique culture (Denny and Earle, 2009). Therefore, without culture and society, a closed connection between these notions could not be formed, due to the absence of structured social relationships (Sewell Jr, 2005).

According to dictionaries, sociology can be defined as “the systematic study of society and social interactions” (Open Education Sociology Dictionary 2013) or can be understood through its stems – socius (Latin) meaning companion and logos (Greek) meaning the study of (Abercrombie et al. 2006). Although these definitions are not incorrect, sociology is much more complex. In my essay, I am going to examine the question of what sociology is more closely by looking at what sociologists seek to understand, what the sociological perspective is, the skills sociologists utilise to learn about the world and how sociology actually affects and impacts the societies we live in.

Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim developed very different sociological theories of how society evolves over time. Marx brought around the conflict theory and became the head of the sociological discipline of Marxism. Durkheim was a French Functionalist, meaning he looked at society in a scientific way. Although Marx and Durkheim had different ways of thinking about society, both have contributed significantly to the way we study sociology today.

In general, Sociology is a scientific study that involved in the human social behaviour which is shaped by the society, whereby it is a system of interrelationships which connects the individuals together to create a unique culture (Denny and Earle, 2009). Therefore, without culture and society, a closed connection between these notions could not be formed, due to the absence of structured social relationships (Sewell Jr, 2005).

For centuries Sociologist that provided their differing positions in regards to different social and cultural phenomena. Fascinated by how things relate, philosophers have come up with many arguments supporting the changes in society. To provide a healthier explanation for their positions they create theories backed by studies and observation. A theory is essential as it is a composition of 2 or more concepts. Essential to the world the sociology, Karl Marx has played an instrumental role in the study of society. He believed capitalism would lead to alienation with a sense of false consciousness. He saw competition as negative

Deviance can be broadly defined as the transgressions of social norms. It is a concept in sociology that has drawn many different analytical perspectives. This includes perspectives such as the reactivist, normative, statistical and absolutist. In his work, Liazos attempts to define the current state of the field of study by analyzing works of different authors in the field.

Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx both had interesting theories about societies. Durkheim and Marx found it important to understand society integration. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx have played profound roles in the understanding of Sociological theory. Sociological theory can be used to explain many things including how society is held together. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx had different ideas on what held society together but in ways their ideas were also similar.

Sociology, the study of human behavior with one another through observation, participation, experimentation, and is a relatively new concept in science. The systematic study of human behavior began in the late 1700s and was sparked by the French Revolution of 1789. The term sociology is accredited to a French philosopher by the name of Auguste Comte, who originally called it Social Physics. Comte wanted to distinguish the scientific study of human behavior from the other sciences, therefore, he termed the scientific study of human behavior as Sociology. Comte believed that this new field of scientific study would provide a knowledge of society based off scientific evidence and that it should contribute to the welfare of society.

The Sociological imagination, as defined by Nilsen and Scott (2014), is the thinking or the realignment of one’s own mind into connecting the individual with the grater society even with the society’s past to better understand how the individual affects the whole, and how the whole affects rhe individual. In his book A General View of Positivism, Auguste Comte describes positivism as the use of empirical methods such as ones used in natural science to observe society in sociology. Furthermore, Mill (2005) describes Comte’s theory as the theory that made the scientific community stick with its ideals and systematic observation. In Harriet Martineau’s Society in America, she uses feminism as a perspective to re-envision

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.

When Auguste Comte coined the term ‘sociology' to refer to a positivistic or scientifically proven approach to study human society and social life, he gave rise to the central idea of the structural functionalist perspective on deviance and conformity (Thompson & Gibbs, 2017). This sociological perspective provides a macro-level analysis that focuses on the structure of society and the roles of social institutions such as government and family, to provide its members with stable patterns of social structures (Goode, 2008). Many people tend to associate negative implications when they come across deviant actions —any behavior such as crime that breaks from commonly accepted norms or expectations— and assume that society would be better off without them. On the contrary, functionalists point out that deviance is a common part of human existence and that some deviance is actually healthy for our society as they can strengthen norms and social unity to name a few (Clinard & Meier,

Symbolic interaction perspective also known as symbolic interactionism is the most important basic conceptional structure of sociological theory and it depends on meanings which are symbolic that individuals establish and rely on in the process of social interaction (Crossman, 2015:1). Even though this perspective originates from the statement that was made by Max Weber that people act based on the interpretation of the meaning of their world, this perspective was introduced to the American Sociology in the 1920s by an American philosopher George Herbert Mead (Crossman, 2015:1). This theory or perspective is used or it can be used to analyze or figure out societies by focusing on behaviours of people.

Symbolic interactionism has emerged in the middle of twentieth century as an answer to the dominant approaches which offer macro-level and top-down analysis to society in the field of sociology. It was influenced by Scottish Moralist philosophers from who view the "society as a network of interpersonal communication that connect people". It was also influenced by the American Pragmatist philosophers who view the mind as a device for adaptation and emphasized the significance of the environment specifically the social world for the emergence of an individual. Despite differences in their focus of study, they are similar in that they both study human group life and human conduct (Longmore

Since the 17th century, people all over the world have been trying to figure out how society works and the ways in which people are influenced by their society. Traditionally, these questions were answered using superstition and myth (Henslin, 4). The “founding fathers” of sociology -Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber- all broke apart from the traditional ways of thinking and developed their own worldviews.

According to Marcel Mauss, a French sociologist and Emile Durkheim’s nephew, there are three obligations of the “gift”. They are to give gifts to people out of ones own volition, to receive a gift when given a gift and to reciprocate by giving a gift when a gift is received. Gifts are links between people, things and other people. It promotes comradery and good will. People make/build/buy elaborate or prestigious items and present it to other people. Different societies differs in not only the exchange of gifts but alos the differs in reasons as to why they exchange gifts. According to Mauss getting what you need by exchanging is a primitive ideology. The motivation behind giving Gifts vary. The gift that’s given reap rewards in this life

The sociological imagination, developed by C. Wright Mills, is the knowledge and awareness someone has about the relationship between individual experiences and the surrounding society and world. It explains behaviors by the intersection of biology and history. For example, it explains why public policies have been created. A benefit of this sociological perspective is that it highlights the concept that much of what is a personal problem is a public problem. Some of the examples that were used in the text, “The Promise” were unemployment and divorce. It said that when there is a small population of people and only a few people are unemployed then it is more of a personal problem, but if there is a large population and a huge percentage of them are unemployed then there is a problem within that society and everyone’s personal problems are public problems, this is the dame for divorce.

Bourdieu’s Distinction, a social critique of the judgment of taste, is one of the author’s main contributions to sociology, with parallels from classic authors such as Kant and Marx. Bourdieu reports society stratification and efforts towards class differentiation based on taste, using a sample analysis of 1.217 persons on a survey applied in France in 1963, 1967 and 1968. On his analysis, Bourdieu applies statistical analysis linking economy, culture and educational capital as variables, measuring the intensity of this relationship in terms of photography, composers, furniture shopping, gastronomy, youth generation singers, abstract painting, food budget, sports and fashion taste. From these observations, he traces the most cited ones back

Classical sociological theory arose in the nineteenth century, in the aftermath of the American and French Revolutions and during the Industrial Revolution. Summarize how the theories of Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber all reflect a concern for the consequences of modern life.