Transcript Understanding Psychology 5th Edition Morris and Maisto

The sociological perspective
Sociology
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The systematic study of social behavior in
human groups.
The systematic study of human society.
Society: refers to the people who interact in a
defined territory and share culture.
Sociology examines the influence of social
relationships on people’s attitudes and
behavior.
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The Sociological Imagination/Perspective
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An awareness of the relationship between an
individual and the wider society.
It is the ability to view our own society as an
outsider might, rather than from the perspective
of our limited experiences and cultural biases.
 Seeing the General in the particular
 Seeing the strange in the familiar
 Individuality in social context
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The importance of Global Perspective
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The study of the larger world & our society’s place in it.
The global awareness is logical extension of the
sociological perspective
Economic perspective of Globe
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The high income countries are industrialized nations
in which most people enjoy material abundance
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Middle income countries are nations with limited
industrialization and moderate personal income
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Low income countries are nations with little
industrialization and severe poverty
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The importance of Global Perspective
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Benefits of global perspective
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Societies the world over are increasingly
interconnected
Many human problems faced by one country
are the same as faced by the other countries
Thinking globally is a good way to learn more
about ourselves
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Benefits of Sociological Perspective in Daily life
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The Sociological perspective helps us assess the
truth of commonly held assumptions
The sociological perspective prompts us to assess
both the opportunities and the constraints that
characterize our lives
The sociological perspective empowers us to
participate actively in our society
The sociological perspective helps us recognize
human variety and confront the challenges of living
in a diverse world
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The Origins of Sociology
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Major factors behind origin
 Industrialization
 Urbanization/growth of cities
 Changes in Political & Social set up
French Social thinker Auguste Comte (1798-1857) coined
the term Sociology to describe a new way of looking at
the world
 Comte’s three stage historical development
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Theological stage/religious stage
Metaphysical/philosophical stage
Scientific stage
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Sociological Theory
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Theory: An attempt to explain events, forces, materials,
ideas or behavior in a comprehensive manner.
Sociological Theory:
 The system of interconnected concepts/ ideas that
condenses and organizes knowledge about the social
world.
 a statement of how and why specific facts are related
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Instructor: Saba Nasir
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Theoretical Paradigm/Perspective
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A basic image of society that guides thinking and
research
Major Theoretical Perspectives of sociology
 Structural-functional paradigm
 Social-conflict paradigm
 Symbolic-interaction paradigm
 Feminist paradigm
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“The Sociological Perspective”
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Major Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology…….
Structural-Functional Perspective
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a framework for building theory that sees
society as a complex system whose parts
work together to promote solidarity and
stability
Social structure: any relatively stable
pattern of social behaviour
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Major Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology…….
Structural-Functional Perspective
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Social function: consequences of these patterns for the
operations of the society as a whole
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Manifest function: The recognized and intended consequences
of any social pattern
Latent functions: Consequences that are largely unrecognized
and unintended
Dysfunction: social patterns undesirable consequences for the
operation of the society
Major contributors: Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim,
Herbert Spencer, Talcott Parsons, Robert K Merton
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Major Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology…….
Social-Conflict Perspective
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A framework for building theory that sees
society as an arena of inequality that generates
conflict and change
 social class, Race, ethnicity, gender etc
Major contributors
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Karl Marx, Du Bois
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Major Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology…….
Symbolic-Interaction Perspective
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A framework for building theory that sees
society as the product of the everyday
interactions of individuals.
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Focus on sense making, perception,
subjective reality
Major contributors
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Herbert Mead, Peter Blau
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Major Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology…….
Feminist Perspective
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A framework for building theory that views
inequity in gender as central to all behavior
and organization
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Liberal feminism
Radical feminism
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Structural-Functional, Social-Conflict
V/S Symbolic-Interaction
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Macro Level VS Micro Level
Behavior/Action VS Perception/Meaning
Quantitative approach VS Qualitative
approach
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Structural-Functionalist Perspective
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Conflict Perspective
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Symbolic-Interaction Perspective
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Three Major Theoretical Paradigms
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