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The Sociological Perspective | |||||
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What is society? | ||||
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Sociology: What is sociology? See the Characteristics of sociology | ||||
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Ways of understanding | ||||
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Sociological Insight: Seeing the General in the Particular | ||||
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Sociological Imagination | ||||
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Paradigms | ||||
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Epistemology: Subjective & Objective knowledge | ||||
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The Social Sciences & the Structure of Knowledge | ||||
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Political Science perspectives | ||||
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Economics perspectives | ||||
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Psychology perspectives | ||||
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Social Anthropology perspectives | ||||
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Sociology: Sociology has many commonalities w/ the other Social Sciences | ||||
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The Development of Sociology | ||||
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The Sociology Paradigms: Theories |
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Intro to Functionalism | ||||
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Intro to Conflict Theory | ||||
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Intro to Symbolic Interactionism |
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- Project: The Common Sense Quiz |
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SOCIOLOGY IS ONE WAY TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD | |||||
Sociology is one of the ways of understanding the world which utilizes the methods of the social sciences | |||||
What are other ways of understanding?
What are some ways we understand the world/ our existence?
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A. COMMON SENSE UNDERSTANDING IS PRACTICAL COMPREHENSION THAT OFTEN IS NOT COMMON | |||||
Common sense is the ability to see & act upon what is obvious | |||||
Common sense is great for some things, but in many other situation it is totally inadequate | |||||
B. RELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING IS MORAL / ETHICAL COMPREHENSION OF SECULAR LIFE & A COMPREHENSION OF 'THE SACRED BEYOND' | |||||
Many people understand the world through "traditional religions" such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. | |||||
Many people understand the world through "non-traditional religions" such as Paganism, Wiccan, etc. or any form of "personal spirituality" or philosophy | |||||
Many people understand the world through superstition | |||||
Review: World Religions: some have different ways of understanding | |||||
C. TRADITIONAL / AUTHORITARIAN UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WHICH IS ACCEPTED BECAUSE IT WAS HANDED DOWN FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION | |||||
We understand the world based on what others traditionally believe & on what others 'force' us to believe | |||||
D. UNDERSTANDING BASED ON EMOTION IS THAT FEELING OR SENSE THAT PROVIDES CERTAINTY OF KNOWLEDGE | |||||
Aesthetics the study of / understanding of life through poetry, literature, art, theater, etc. | |||||
The concept of the emotional quotient ( EQ ) denotes that some people can sense or understand their own / another's emotion w/ great accuracy & clarity | |||||
Some people can sense the emotion of a large group of people | |||||
One way of understanding is religious ecstasy which is emotionally based religion | |||||
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E. SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING IS THAT BASED ON TRIAL & ERROR / EXPERIMENTAL TESTS |
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Science is the dominant approach to understanding reality in modern industrial societies | |||||
One of the major qualities of the modern age is understanding based on the modern invention of the scientific method | |||||
Many of the other methods of understanding utilize some aspects of science | |||||
See Also: The Scientific Method | |||||
THE BRANCHES OF ACADEME / ALL KNOWLEDGE IS ORGANIZED INTO THE HUMANITIES, THE PHYS SCIENCES, & THE SOC SCIENCES | |||||
I. Humanities | |||||
II. Physical Sciences | |||||
III. The Social Sciences | |||||
The Sociological Imagination | |||||
COMMON SENSE & SCIENCE ARE SIMILAR IN THAT TO SOME EXTENT THEY ARE BASED ON PRAGMATISM / TRIAL & ERROR | |||||
Common sense & science are very similar. Science is simply more well reviewed than common sense | |||||
Common sense is "personal science" | |||||
Everyday we make our own hypothesis, tests, generalizations, etc. | |||||
Example: Should I bring an umbrella today?
Scientific opinion: yes: 90% chance of rain --front coming in this afternoon Common sense: no: it's clear; hasn't rained in 3 days |
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Sociology uses the scientific method to develop understanding | |||||
Sociology is often viewed as common sense, but as we saw on ways of understanding, common sense is untested, & unverified | |||||
Sociology is tested & verified | |||||
UNDERSTANDING CULTURE IS OFTEN DONE THROUGH THE SOCIAL SCIENCES & THE HUMANITIES, OFFERING INSTRUMENTAL & INTERPRETIVE KNOWLEDGE, RESPECTIVELY | |||||
To understand culture in everyday life, we usually use all of the methods of understanding above, except science | |||||
We utilize all the ways of understanding, our culture of understanding, which is composed of knowledge, Beliefs, Values, & Norms (KBVN) , but usually not science, to understand everyday life | |||||
People try to understand the new neighbors on issues from A to Z utilizing all of the types of understanding, usually, except science | |||||
Our way of understanding' determines our actions or behavior | |||||
The ways of understanding our culture, which is composed of our shared knowledge, beliefs, values, & norms ( KBVN ) & the immediate situation creates our basis for our action: our behavioral/ mental states of our attitudes, opinions, & interests ( AOI ) |
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SOCIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING IS GAINED THROUGH STUDY / REFLECTION & ACTING IN THE WORLD | |||||
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Praxis is the process of combining sociological theory & practice |
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One gains sociological insight by practicing praxis |
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A paradigm is a theoretical framework as in the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time; e.g. "He framed the problem w/in the psychoanalytic paradigm" | |||||
In The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in 1962 Thomas Kuhn emphasized the importance of the concept of the paradigm for the sciences when he noted that all of science is made up of competing paradigms which gain & lose influence over time | |||||
Social scientists such as Farley & Macionis prefer to use the term perspective instead of paradigm to denote the various theoretical models in sociology | |||||
The most important paradigms in sociology include symbolic interactionism, functionalism, & conflict theory | |||||
Developing sociological insight, praxis, is best accomplished by understanding all the sociological paradigms & by putting them into use in everyday life | |||||
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SEEING THE GENERAL IN THE PARTICULAR IS THE MOST COMPLEX & USEFUL SOCIOLOGICAL SKILL |
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In 1963 Peter Berger described the sociological paradigm as as seeing the general in the particular, & conversely by seeing the particular in the general |
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In everyday, common sensible understanding praxis is seeing the forest for the trees & as the saying goes "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Reinhold Niebuhr |
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Human, thinking, by its very nature is a process of categorization; people inherently categorize life; people stereotype people, things, events, etc. into logical categories as in men & women, children & adults, rich & poor, etc. |
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See Also: Social Differentiation |
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Generally we see love & marriage as an individualistic, i.e. particular event in which we usually consider love & marriage but the sociological insight of the mature adult as sees factors such as gender, age, race, social class & more |
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Love, from a sociological paradigm, is the feeling we have for others who match up w/ what society teaches us to want |
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SEEING THE STRANGE IN THE FAMILIAR IS AN IMPORTANT SOCIOLOGICAL AID TO GAINING A MULTI PERSPECTIVAL UNDERSTANDING |
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Sociological insight also allows us to see the strange in the familiar |
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The use of the sociological paradigm via sociological insight means that we see the familiar & also see the strange or the factors influencing life w/ which we are not familiar or comfortable |
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Americans & those living in the industrialized, developed world in general are the most individualistic people in all of history, tending to see the world, their lives, more in terms of their own interests, values, & ideologies & less in terms of the interests, values, & ideologies of their community or society |
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Individualists tend to see their own lives as normal & right & see the lives of others as strange & not right |
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For example we can understand why couples tend to have 2 children but are confused & see it as strange that couples in India choose to have 3, couples in So Africa have 4, couples in Cambodia have 5, couples in Saudi Arabia have 6, & couples in Niger have 7 | |||||
SEEING INDIVIDUALITY IN SOCIAL CONTEXT IS TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE ACT UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL FORCES |
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In 1897 Durkheim wrote his book Suicide to demonstrate that even in the most individualistic act of suicide social forces are at work |
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Part of Durkheim's agenda in writing a book on the social forces involved in suicide was to establish sociology as a legitimate social science w/ a distinct sphere of inquiry from psychology |
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In the past & even today the act of suicide is typically thought of in psychological terms, but Durkheim demonstrated that the social forces of integration & regulation as manifested in gender, class, & religion interact to make one more or less likely to commit suicide |
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See Also: Durkheim on Suicide | ||||
For Durkheim most victims of suicidal tendencies even experience them in individualistic, psychological terms in that we feel suicidal | |||||
For Durkheim in order to understand the individualistic, psychological feelings that manifest themselves in suicide, we must put our individuality in a social context, & use sociological insight to see what is beneath the surface & grasp why men commit suicide much more than women, why the extremely rich & the extremely poor commit suicide more than people in other classes, & why people in particular religions have lower suicide rates | |||||
CW MILLS DEVELOPED THE CONCEPT / METHOD OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION WHICH REQUIRES SEEING ONE'S BIOGRAPHY / LIFE IN THE CONTEXT OF HISTL FORCES | |||||
One of the most powerful summations of the meaning of sociological insight was developed by C Wright Mills through his concept of the sociological imagination | |||||
See Also: The Sociological Imagination | |||||
For Mills using the sociological imagination allows one to understand their individualism or biography in terms of the social forces of history | |||||
Another component of the sociological imagination is distinguishing personal experiences from social issues | |||||
SOCIOLOGICAL INSIGHT MUST BE EXPANDED TO COMPREHEND THE FORCES OF GLOBALIZATION | |||||
Today sociological insight must be expanded to a global scale because while in the past social forces may have been largely limited to the village in which one lived, today national events & world events have come to touch our everyday lives | |||||
For example, in the past all of our acquaintances were probably from the village in which we lived while today we may have regular contact w/ people from anywhere on the globe | |||||
In the past what happened somewhere else had little impact on us & we may never have even hear about it while today any event such as an outbreak of flu in a village may impact the food we eat & the way we travel & we probably hear about it in days if not hours | |||||
Throughout hist, where we lived & whom we interacted w/ were important features in channeling social forces, but globalization has magnified these social forces | |||||
a. Location shapes our lives | |||||
b. Societies are increasingly interconnected; individuals are increasingly interconnected in many ways while disconnected in other ways | |||||
c. Social forces, i.e. social problems & opportunities, manifest themselves through very close relationships such as family & friends as well as through very impersonal relationships such as the global econ & transportation | |||||
d. As we understand more about the world around us, i.e. globalization, we understand more about ourselves | |||||
For Macionis, one important factor in understanding the world is understanding the globalized stratification system | |||||
Stratification is the social process where scarce social & physical resources such as wealth, income, power, status, etc. are non randomly distributed among members, groups, classes etc. of society | |||||
See Also: Stratification | |||||
According to Macionis, there are three different types of nations in
the world, including the world's
a. high income countries are industrialized nations in which most people have relatively high incomes b. middle income countries have limited industrialization and moderate personal income c. low income countries have little industrialization and most people are poor |
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Macionis' view of global strat is vastly oversimplified because each country has poor people & for exam in the US while our poor are "much richer" than mid income people in middle income nations, the US poor are much worse off, some having conditions similar to the poorest of the world's poor |
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- Project: Most Interesting Social Science |
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THERE ARE 3 MAJOR AREAS OF STUDY INCLUDING THE HUMANITIES, NATURAL SCIENCES, & SOCIAL SCIENCES | |||||||||||||||||||||||
THE CATEGORIZATION OF ACADEME:
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a. There are SIX branches of the humanities | ||||||||||||||||||||||
- Philosophy
- History - Art - Literature - Languages - Communication |
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b. There are TWO branches of the natural sciences
& many disciplines
- Physical sciences Chemistry Physics - Life sciences Biology Zoology |
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c. There are SEVEN branches of the social sciences | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Political science | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Economics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Psychology | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Anthropology | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Criminology | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Cultural Geography | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Sociology | |||||||||||||||||||||||
THE 5 COMMONALITIES IN THE SOC SCIENCES INCLUDE: THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, PATTERNS, FACTS, LEVELS OF ANALYSIS, VARIOUS METHODOLOGIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||
a. All use the scientific method, as do the natural
sciences
The humanities do not use the scientific method, though some are adopting similar methodologies |
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b. All look for patterns in human behavior, as do the natural sciences & the humanities | |||||||||||||||||||||||
c. All are based on systematic observation, generalization, & interpretation of social facts as are the natural sciences | |||||||||||||||||||||||
d. All study different levels of human behavior (micro, middle, macro, grand, meta-) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
e. All may use different methods, but each has its most widely used methods | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Many of the social sciences have considerable methodological & theoretical overlap | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The methods of the social science are based on the historically new belief that human behavior can be studied scientifically | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The complexity of human behavior makes social sciences somewhat more difficult to study than the natural sciences | |||||||||||||||||||||||
THE SOC SCIENCES ALL USE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, BUT ALL HAVE SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT METHODS VARYING ON HOW THEY ARE DONE, & THE INTERPRETATION OF DATA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sciences are, in many ways, defined by their methods & thus a social science is one in which the methods of science are used in order to study human social behavior | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Sociology uses the methods of the survey, census data, systematic observation | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Psychology uses the methods of systematic observation, interviews, analysis | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Political science uses the methods of polls (surveys), census data | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Anthropology uses the methods of field work (archeological digs), observation | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Economics uses the methods of data gathering & analysis | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Criminology uses the methods of statistical analysis | |||||||||||||||||||||||
- Cultural geography uses the methods of field work (archeological digs), observation |
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Cultural geography is the study of the spatial organization of human activity & of people's relationships w/ their environments. All human activities have a spatial organization | |||||||||||||||||||||||
While each discipline in the social sciences is considered distinct, the disciplines do overlap | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The two types of science include the physical sciences & the social sciences | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Even though a given project or scientist may strive to be one of these types or subtypes of the social sciences, various interests may appropriate or "use" their work as they please | |||||||||||||||||||||||
PURE SCIENCE IS MORE OFTEN DONE IN THE LAB & HAS OBJECTIVE RESULTS WHILE APPLIED SCIENCE IS DONE IN THE FIELD & RESULTS ARE MORE OPEN TO INTERPRETATION | |||||||||||||||||||||||
In both the physical sciences & social sciences, research may be more theoretically oriented or more practically oriented, & historically the former has garnered more status & research funding while the latter has produced more results | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1. Pure or academic sci is done largely by university research institutes but more is done in biz labs, e.g. Bell Labs, every day | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2. Applied sci is sci done in biz, by govt, for use or guidance | |||||||||||||||||||||||
There are several subtypes of applied sci: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
1. Policy analysis develops, implements & assesses a policy, strategy, plan of action, etc. related to a given product, issue, institution, etc. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Sci is a tool of competing pol & econ interests who often control funding | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2. Assessment or evaluation research seeks to determining the effectiveness of a product, policy, procedure, institution, etc. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
3. Risk assessment is the assessment of the risk & its mitigation | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Science makes large assumptions on many issues & frequently can only give a probability of an event occurring | |||||||||||||||||||||||
4. Cost benefit analysis examines the financial implications of a given product, issue, institution, etc. & may or may not include spill over costs & benefits | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Science can function properly in each of the modes of physical or social, pure or applied, policy analysis or risk assessment |
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POLITICAL SCIENCE IS THE STUDY OF CITIZENS, THE STATE, & THE PROCESS OF GOVERNANCE WHICH INVOLVES POWER, CONFLICT & COOPERATION | |||||
Introduction: Political science is the oldest social science
One of the oldest social institutions in society is a political body, the tribe, & thus political science predates history |
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The pre- political science paradigms were religion & tribe based | |||||
Many political science paradigms predate the modern era | |||||
The variety of political bodies is immense & includes the
- tribe - city state - nation - world systems |
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Political science is macro oriented | |||||
Fundamental questions of political science
How is society possible? What is the nature of power? What makes the ideal state? Is democracy possible? |
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TWO fathers of political science: | |||||
HOBBES EMPHASIZED POWER & CONFLICT IN POLITICS, SEEING POLITICS AS WAR BY OTHER MEANS | |||||
Hobbes believed that
- in our natural state, life is a war of all against all - the only way for society to exist is w/ govt - the govt (the Leviathan (monster)) forces us to live together in peace |
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ROUSSEAU EMPHASIZED COOPERATION IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS BELIEVING THAT GOVT ITSELF WAS PROBLEMATIC | |||||
Rousseau believed that
- in our natural state, we lived in peaceful harmony. - society existed before govt - minimalist govt is best - govt has derailed our natural peaceful tendencies. - it is only in organized states (govts) that man makes war - govt has derailed our natural peaceful tendencies |
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ECONOMICS IS THE STUDY OF AFFAIRS OF COMMUNITY OR NATIONAL INCOME, EXPENDITURES, DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES; HENCE THE MATERIAL WELFARE | |||||
Economics involves the study of human behavior as it relates to the production, exchange, distribution, & consumption of wealth & income | |||||
Economics is important in all the social sciences because at its base, it examines the manner in which human needs & comforts are supplied | |||||
Economics is both micro & macro oriented | |||||
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Economics is perhaps the oldest social science recognized as such. Economics developed in the 1600s. Economics has developed from a feudal command economy to pure capitalism to socialism to mixed capitalism to global capitalism to ..... ? |
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BEFORE ECON BECAME A SOC SCIENCE, MANY BELIEVED IN PREDESTINATION: THE WEALTH OR SITUATION OF A PERSON WAS PREDETERMINED & NOT THE RESULT OF THEIR OWN EFFORTS | |||||
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Pre Economics Paradigms: What explanations were used to explain wealth & poverty? |
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One important pre economics paradigm was that of predestination, which held that the good were rewarded here on Earth & in heaven |
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The predestination paradigm, as it relates to economics, held that |
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- the king has sacred qualities & is, in fact, god's representative on Earth |
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- one's most important duty is to the king / god while individual need / duty is evil |
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- if one serves god & king, then one is rewarded |
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- one should not pursue individual or personal interests |
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- to follow one's own interests demonstrated greed & evil | |||||
THERE ARE SEVEN FUNDAMENTAL PARADIGMS IN ECON, & MANY SECONDARY MODELS, INCLUDING: HUNTER GATHERER, MILITARY, AG, CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM, MIXED CAPITALISM, GLOBAL CAPITALISM | |||||
1. THE HUNTER GATHERER ECON WAS BASED ON HUNTING & GATHERING (NO AG) & WEALTH WAS VERY EQUALLY DISTRIBUTED | |||||
2. MANY MILITARY BASED EMPIRES EXISTED IN ANCIENT TIMES, & SOME HAVE INFLUENCED DEVELOPMENT THROUGHOUT HISTORY | |||||
3. AGRICULTURAL BASED EMPIRES CAME TO DOMINATE IN ANCIENT TIMES, DISPLACING BOTH H-G & MILITARY ECONS, & DOMINATED UNTIL THE INDL REV |
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4. PURE CAPITALISM DEVELOPED AT THE DAWN OF THE INDL REV, USING THE 'INVISIBLE HAND' OF THE MKT TO COORDINATE DEMAND & SUPPLY |
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In 1776, Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations which delineated many of his ideas |
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Smith believed that the structures of capitalism turned the feudal command economy on its head | |||||
For Smith, under feudalism, the duty to king/god is the greatest & individual need/duty is bad while under capitalism, pursuing individual interests will result in the greatest good for society | |||||
Smith understood that under capitalism, people do not serve the king/govt, they followed their own interests | |||||
Smith developed the idea of the invisible hand which was his conception of how the laws of supply & demand regulated production & consumption in the economy | |||||
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5. SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM AIMED TO ADDRESS THE FAULTS OF CAPITALISM, ESP INEQUALITY & MONOPOLIZATION | ||||
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In the mid 1800s, Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto |
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Marx saw Smith's pure capitalism developing into monopoly capitalism | |||||
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Karl Marx considered himself to be a political economist, not a sociologist |
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Marx saw the poverty portrayed by Charles Dickens... “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...” |
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Marx saw that the wealthier people got, the more poverty there was |
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Marx believed monopolies would take over & rule the world, enslaving us all |
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Marx saw virtually all societies as being shaped by a struggle btwn owners of the means of production & those who did not own the means of production | |||||
Marx thought socialism was the solution | |||||
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6. MIXED CAPITALISM COMBINED QUALITIES OF SOCIALISM TO ADDRESS INEQUALITY, & GOVT REG TO ADDRESS MONOPOLIZATION |
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Keynes developed his economic theories in the early 1900s, & eventually worked for President FDR | |||||
Keynes understood Marx's economic theories & the effect of monopolies on capitalism | |||||
Keynes lived through & saw the effects of the Great Depression of 1929-1940 | |||||
Keynes developed they system mixed capitalism to replace monopoly | |||||
For Keynes under mixed capitalism, the govt intervenes in the market to break up & regulate business | |||||
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For Keynes under mixed capitalism, the govt tries to regulate business
cycles by controlling:
- interest rates - the money supply - govt spending in the economy (deficit spending or surplus saving) - the social safety net |
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7. GLOBAL CAPITALISM IS NOT NECESSARILY A NEW TYPE OF ECON, & CURRENTLY IT SEEMS CLOSER TO PURE CAP THAN MIXED CAP, BUT IT DOES CREATE A NEW HIERARCHY OF NATIONS WHO PRODUCE, TRADE, CONSUME, ETC. IN DIFFERENT WAYS |
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Wallerstein developed world systems theory |
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For some theorists, it is not clear that world systems theory is a competing paradigm | |||||
For Wallerstein, global capitalism is the completion of the development of capitalism | |||||
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Contemporary economists include: |
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- John Kenneth Galbraith, who developed theories on contemporary mixed capitalism | |||||
- Milton Friedman, who is a contemporary free market capitalism advocate | |||||
- Paul Volker, who was a past President of Federal Reserve Bank | |||||
- Allen Greenspan, who was the President of Federal Reserve Bank from Reagan to Bush to Clinton to Bush Jr. | |||||
The President of Federal Reserve Bank is known as "second most powerful man on Earth" |
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PSYCHOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF THE MIND WHICH STUDIES ALL INTERACTIONS BTWN LIVING ORGANISMS & THE ENV | |||||
Psychology studies human behavior primarily on the individual level while sociology studies human behavior primarily at the aggregate level | |||||
There are FOUR major Schools of Psychology
a. Behavioral c. Cognitive b. Psychoanalytic d. Humanistic |
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a. BEHAVIORAL PSYC HOLDS THAT ALL BEHAVIOR IS CONDITIONED BY THE ENV | |||||
Behaviorists are empiricists in that they base all theory on observed behavior & does not take into acct what the individual is thinking, feeling, etc. | |||||
Pavlov | |||||
Skinner | |||||
b. PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYC HOLDS THAT BEHAVIOR IS DETERMINED BY HUMAN INSTINCTS / ARCHETYPES | |||||
Psychoanalysts generally embrace a psycho dynamic model where they see the personality as the result of the interplay / dynamics among the various parts of the psyche, including various instincts & other parts | |||||
Freud | |||||
Jung | |||||
c. COGNITIVE PSYC HOLDS THAT THE BRAIN & NERVOUS SYSTEM ARE HARD WIRED IN PARTICULAR WAYS THAT AFFECT OUR BEHAVIOR | |||||
Cognitive psyc uses a cybernetic / computer type model that examines the manner in which areas of the brain & nervous system function, dysfunction, or impact each other | |||||
d. HUMANISTIC PSYC HOLDS THAT PEOPLE NEED TO STRIVE TO REACH THEIR FULL HUMANITY | |||||
Humanistic psyc generally embraces a psycho dynamic model, & supplements it w/ new, 'higher' functions which develop as we mature or experience life's challenges | |||||
Maslow | |||||
Rogers | |||||
THERE ARE SIXTEEN AREAS IN PSYC WHICH CROSS PARADIGM & THEORETICAL LINES AS IT ADDRESSES REAL HUMAN ISSUES | |||||
Abnormal | |||||
Clinical | |||||
Comparative | |||||
Counseling | |||||
Developmental | |||||
Educational | |||||
Gestalt | |||||
Industrial / Organizational | |||||
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Learning | ||||
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Motivational | ||||
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Parapsychology | ||||
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Perception | ||||
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Personality | ||||
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Socio-biology | ||||
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Social psychology | ||||
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Structuralism | ||||
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Transactional analysis |
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ANTHROPOLOGY IS THE STUDY OF THE ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT (PHYSICAL & CULTURAL), CHARACTER, & VARIETIES OF HUMANKIND | |||||
Anthropology is concerned w/ the origin, development, & varieties of humankind & culture, emphasizing data from nonliterate peoples | |||||
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PRE- ANTHROPOLOGY PARADIGMS VIEWED TRIBAL SOCIETY AS INFERIOR & W/O CIVILIZATION |
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The pre anthropology paradigm consisted of the innate human desire to experience & understand other cultures |
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Anthropology holds that cultures have always looked at other cultures |
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Cultures have always looked at each other frequently as friends, alien, dangerous etc., & continue to do so today |
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ANTHROPOLOGY HAS EXPANDED, APPLYING THE TOOLS IT HAS DEVELOPED BY STUDYING INDIGENOUS PEOPLE TO ALL SOCIETIES |
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Anthropology often focuses on the study pre modern societies & indigenous people | ||||
In many ways, anthropology may be thought of as the "sociology of pre modern societies" | |||||
Physical anthropology deals basically w/ human evolution | |||||
Cultural anthropology is the study of extinct & living cultures and linguistics & ethnology | |||||
Anthropology encompasses archeology | |||||
Anthropology has developed into looking at how we can view other, different cultures w/ respect | |||||
Anthropology is mostly micro oriented, but new innovative anthropologists are developing some macro analysis | |||||
Some anthropologists | |||||
- Henry Lewis Morgan | |||||
- Claude Levi Strauss | |||||
- Marcel Mauss | |||||
- Margaret Meade | |||||
- The sociologist Emile Durkheim worked extensively in the field of anthropology |
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See Also: The Social Sciences |
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SUMMARY:
Sociology began around the 1700s w/ influences from earlier social philosophy St. Simon is known as the Father of Sociology Sociology was influenced by Enlightenment ideals Durkheim established sociology as an academic discipline Around 1900, the 1st sociology dept. in the US was established in Chicago The Chicago School focused on activism, social work & social reform Functionalism developed during WW2 & reflected the conservatism of the nation Conflict theory, which was more radical, developed during the Vietnam era Today sociology focuses on many diverse areas |
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SOCIOLOGY BEGAN AROUND THE 1700s, INFLUENCED BY EARLIER SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY | ||||
Early sociology was influenced by social philosophers such as Hobbes 1588 - 1679 | |||||
Sociology began around the 1700s w/ influences from earlier social philosophy | |||||
Early sociologists began applying the scientific method to the study of society, groups, etc. & believed that society could be improved | |||||
Saint Simon 1760 - 1825 is considered the father of sociology | |||||
Auguste Comte 1798 - 1857 coined the term "sociology" | |||||
Comte believed that the major goal of sociology was to understand society as it actually operates | |||||
Comte saw sociology as the product of a three stage historical development
including the:
a. theological stage, in which thought was guided by religion b. metaphysical stage, a transitional phase c. scientific stage, which we have not totally entered yet |
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The scientific stage would be guided by positivism: a way of understanding based on science | |||||
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SEVEN SOCIAL FACTORS AFFECTED THE EARLY SOC SCIENCES,
JUST AS SOC FACTORS AFFECT THE SOC SCIENCES TODAY |
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1. Population explosions | |||||
2. The Enclosure Movement & urbanization | |||||
3. Religious changes during the period of 1300 - 1700 resulted in unified Western Christianity being shattered at the hands of Luther, et al, in the 1500s in a social change called the Reformation | |||||
4. Growth of science | |||||
- Industrial Revolutions | |||||
5. Political revolutions, especially England, US, & France, affected the early social sciences | |||||
a. The political revolutions that affected the early social sciences were characterized by democratization, the fall of monarchy, & the rise of "the rabble," aka the middle class | |||||
b. Rise of capitalism | |||||
c. Rise of socialism in Europe, and especially in Russia: 1907-1917 and before | |||||
6. "Modern" social problems: Joseph Gusfield notes that Sociology emerged as a force to deal w/ social problems such as urbanization, poverty, crime, etc. | |||||
7. The Enlightenment, which was a 100 yr. span from English Revolution ( 1642 ) to the French Revolution ( 1789 ) affected the early social sciences | |||||
Sociology was influenced by Enlightenment ideals | |||||
Enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, et al were influential | |||||
Out of all of these factors, the 3 major social changes during the
17th & 18th Cs that were important to the development of sociology
include:
a. the rise of industrial technology b. the growth of cities c. political change, including a rising concern w/ individual liberty & rights as manifesting in the US & French revs |
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EARLY SOCIOLOGY HAD 'AGREEMENT' ON NINE TENETS & THUS THERE
WAS MORE
SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS THAT THERE IS IN THE CONTEMPORARY SOC SCIENCES |
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1. Society was seen as the most important unit of analysis | |||||
Society is more than individual | |||||
The individual is produced through socialization | |||||
2. The group was seen as an important unit of analysis & the most important units of analysis include the family & the workplace | |||||
3. The parts of society are interrelated through complex relationships on multiple levels | |||||
4. Social change is a threat | |||||
5. Society was functional & therefore there is little use in looking at the negative aspects of society | |||||
6. The small social units of society, e.g., the family, the workplace, religious groups, etc. are essential or vital for the operation of society | |||||
7. Industrialization, bureaucracy, urbanization, immigration, etc. disorganize society | |||||
8. The non rational is bad or dysfunctional for society | |||||
9. The social sciences, including sociology, should support the existing social arrangements, such as hierarchy, in society | |||||
DURKHEIM ESTABLISHED SOCI AS AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE | |||||
Emile Durkheim was pivotal in founding sociology as an academic social science because he established the use of the scientific method to study social phenomenon such as suicide & founded the first sociology dept. in the University of Paris | |||||
Durkheim's pivotal study entitled Suicide, which examined the social factors contributing to 'the most personal act' was instrumental in helping people understand the influence of social influences & the thus the value of the soc sciences | |||||
THE CHICAGO SCHOOL WAS THE 1st AM SOCI DEPT, ESTBED SOC WK & ACTIVISM, & USED CHICAGO AS A LAB | |||||
In 1893, the first sociology dept. in the US was established in Chicago | |||||
The Chicago School brought sociology into America prior to & after 1900 & established the social work & activist directions | |||||
The Chicago School was also known as the Ecological School | |||||
At the Chicago School, the focus on social problems & the researchers used Chicago as a laboratory | |||||
The focus of the Chicago School on social problems predated functionalism & conflict theory | |||||
The Chicago School focused on social deviance, which was defined as a violation of society's norms or rules for appropriate behavior & became synonymous with the term social problems | |||||
The Chicago School focused on activism, social work & social reform |
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The theory of Chicago School held that: |
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- social problems were caused by factors external to the individual, that is, they were "ecological" |
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- the person had little or no control and little or no responsibility for social problems as seen in Chicago |
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- the cause of social problems was unhealthy social environment of inner city |
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- social problems can be solved by integrating the groups in the unstable areas into mainstream |
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- American life is a melting pot |
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FUNCTIONALISM FOCUSES ON THE REGULATING / HOMOGINIZING ASPECTS OF SOCIETY | |||||
Functionalism developed during WW2 & reflected the conservatism of the nation |
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Functionalism developed in the US & this period of conservatism in US occurred as radicalism in Europe developed |
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Harvard sociology reigned from the turn of the century to the 1950s & changed the direction of sociology from a social work / activist direction to one that was more conservative, keeping in times w/ the public attitude as a result of WW2, in the form of functionalism |
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CONFLICT THEORY FOCUSES ON THE COMPETITIVE ASPECTS OF SOCIETY THROUGH CLASS ANALYSIS | |||||
Conflict theory evolved from Marxism & was too radical for the US until it was toned down & began class analysis in the US in the 1940s | |||||
Conflict theory has roots in the US in the 1940s & 50s in the Am Left & such theorists as C Wright Mills, but did not become influential until the 1960s |
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Conflict theory, which was more radical, developed during the Vietnam era |
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The 1950s - mid 1970s saw the American form of Marxism arrive in the form of conflict theory, radicalizing sociology, questioning the conservative functionalism of the previous era |
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While conflict theory had been in Europe for decades, it arrives in US in the 1950s | |||||
Conflict theory reflects development of the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam Protests, Feminist Movement, Environmental Movement, etc. | |||||
THE POST VIETNAM ERA AGAIN BROUGHT A RETURN TO A CONSERVATIVE DIRECTION FOR SOCIOLOGY | |||||
Since the Post Vietnam era:
- conflict theory & functionalism have both lost influence - no clear replacement theory for conflict theory or functionalism has emerged - most Sociology has become a hybrid of both conflict theory & functionalism |
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TODAY SOCIOLOGY FOCUSES ON MANY DIVERSE AREAS | |||||
From the 1980s to the present there has been the growth of a plurality
of fields in sociology, including:
- feminism - criminology - post-modernism - organizational sociology - urban sociology - environmental sociology, etc. |
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INTRO: S - I FOCUSES ON HOW WE CREATE MEANING IN AN INTERACTIVE PROCESS W/ OURSELVES, OTHERS, & SOCIAL STRUCTURES | |||||
Symbolic interactionism is a micro oriented paradigm which holds that:
1. we create meaning in an interactive process w/ ourselves, others, & social structures 2. societal level actions are aggregated by the actions of individuals/groups 3. what people believe to be true, becomes true in its consequences 4. society sends messages, gives rules 5. these messages are imprinted on us (through socialization) from childhood on 6. the content of these impressions is culture 7. social processes / relationships are what construct the individual & society 8. there is a 3 way dynamic among the self, society, & the processes of the construction of the self & society 9. societies interact through symbolic processes w/ themselves & individuals 10. individuals interact through symbolic processes w/ themselves & societies |
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S - I metaphor:
William Shakespeare, As You Like It ( Act
II Scene 7 )
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The symbolic interactionist paradigm is a major micro sociological perspective stressing the importance of messages from others & society, how people understand & interpret these messages & how this process affects people's behavior |
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Societal level actions are aggregated by the actions of individuals or groups | |||||
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FOR S - I, SOCIAL PROCESSES / RELATIONSHIPS ARE WHAT CONSTRUCT THE INDIVIDUAL & SOCIETY |
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Symbolic interactionism is the study of the processes
by which human interaction occurs including the interactions btwn individuals & larger society & how that interaction creates society itself & the individual itself |
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Symbolic interactionism holds that
Society, social interactions, & the self itself, develop / are created through the use of symbols, language, signs & gestures |
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THERE IS A 3 WAY DYNAMIC AMONG THE SELF, SOCIETY, & THE PROCESSES OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SELF & SOCIETY |
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Symbolic interactionist holds that there is a THREE way dynamic which constructs the self & society |
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a. The self (selves) creates social interactions |
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b. Social interactions create society |
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c. Society creates the self |
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Blumer coined the term symbolic interactionism in 1937 |
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SOCIETIES INTERACT THROUGH SYMBOLIC PROCESSES W/ THEMSELVES & INDIVIDUALS | ||||
Societies do
- send messages - give rules - but it is on the individual level that these situations, messages, etc. occur |
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INDIVIDUALS INTERACT THROUGH SYMBOLIC PROCESSES W/ THEMSELVES & SOCIETY | ||||
Individuals also
- send messages - give rules - but most of these messages & rules are largely shaped by & constrained by society |
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Symbolic interactionism developed from social psychology, & still has a strong relationship w/ that field & has inspired a number of other important subfields: dramaturgy, exchange theory, neuro linguistic programming |
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In sociology, most of the ideas of symbolic interactionist are found in the study of socialization |
The End
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