"Sociology"
Blogging on the World and the behaviors of society
Ch. 1 Task 1
What is Sociology?
Sociology is the study of social behavior which focuses on its origins, development, organizations, and insitituions. It is a social science that uses various methods of investigation and critical analysis. Sociology creates knowledge about social disorder, social order, and social change.
When Is Sociology Used?
Sociology can be used nearly everywhere since it tries to answer all the big questions that society has. Some of the biggest examples of where it can be used is in politics, law, marketing, religion and the media.
What are the Different Sociological Statuses?
How Does Sociology Affect Me?
Sociology is very important because every individual sees society through their own behaviors and perspectives. All the things that happen in a society can change the population as a whole and even change us individually. For this reason, sociology can help individuals to learn why change occurs and why people behave and act the way they do.
"Statuses" can vary within any society. But there are usually 4 types of status that can define individuals. The first type is achieved status which is when an individual earns their status through their work and achievements. The second is called ascribed status which is when one is placed on the stratification system based on their inherited postion. The next is called embodied status which is a status determined by physical characteristics. The last is called a master status which is a social position that is the principal characteristic of an individual.
Ch. 1 Task 2
Suicide Rate Among African-Americans Rises
The article that I chose talked about changing suicide rates among African-Americans. Researchers were shocked to find that suicide rates among these boys have nearly double since 1993. The rate rose for black boys from 1.78 to 3.47 per million. Researchers believe that the reason for this significant jump is that black boys experience more violence and aggression at a younge age and no way to receive aid for depression. This statistic focuses on just African-American boys and a brief description of rates among girls. This statistic excludes all ethnic groups and races that reside in American besides African-Americans and Whites.
One obvious reason that the article has excluded for this rise is that African-Americans have been experiencing increasing racism. With the way they've been treated and all the police brutality on the media, it's no wonder they feel like committing this act. Another reason for this rise is that these people may still feel discriminated against and feel as though they have too many disadvantages in our society. And so the suicide they're committing is anomic; to get rid of their problems.
Source: http://www.rt.com/usa/261537-african-american-suicide-rise/
Ch. 1 Task 3
Three Major Paradigms of Sociology
The three major paradigms of sociology are Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionism. To start I will give brief definitions of what each paradigm is and a modern day example:
Functionalism: The concept that everything has to work together in order for something to function. An example of thise would be all the organs in our body working together so that we survive. An old and modern example of functionalism would be the U.S Government. It has it's own bodies and branches all with checks and balances. The government cannot function if one of the branches, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, stops working.
Conflict Theory: This is the idea that people will always struggle in order to reconcile conflicting ideas. This has happened time and time again between people of different social classes. An example today would be that most of the country are starting to see police as just brute enforcers. Because of this, many people are beginning to riot and starting to look at cops in a negative. They're trying to change them.
Symbolic Interactionism: Symbolic Interactionism descibes how people in a society interact based on cultural symbols like spoken or non-spoken language. Society is always changing and so are the symbols. An example of this would be Miley Cyrus. In the early 2000's we all looked at her as Hannah Montana and as a bright, young kid. But as society has changed we have seen her turn into a not so innocent adult.
These three are interrelated because for all of society to function all parts need to work together which is functionalism. We can use the issue between cops and citizens as an example. For society to function in Ferguson both the citizens of the town and the cops need to work together. Since they are not cooperating, the citizens are going to want to bring about change which is conflict theory. In the long run the perspective on cops will change and people will begin to look at them as just controlling, evil people. This is the symbolic interactionism between those people. So the three paradigms can be looked at as dominoes. Once society stops functioning the other paradigms will surely occur. These paradigms can be used to explain many sociological phenomena.
The Three Perspectives of Sociology Booklet
The front of the booklet.
The inside of the booklet.