2. What are Perspectives?
Perspectives describe the underpinning schools of
thought behind the development of Sociology.
Throughout coming sessions, we will be looking
closely at:
• Functionalism
• Marxism
• Symbolic Interactionism
• Postmodernism
• And a little bit of feminism
3. Key Concepts
It would be a good idea to add these to your glossary...
• Values
• Norms
• Status
• Roles
• Culture
Do you know what these concepts mean? Take a few
minutes to discuss in pairs. Can you come up with some
examples to illustrate your answers?
4. Values
Values describe general principles or beliefs
about what is desirable and worthwhile.
They provide society with general guidelines for
behaviour and what is considered important.
Can you think of any British values?
5. Norms
Norms are social rules that define our behaviour
in social situations.
They are essentially Values in action.
Can you think of any norms in Britain?
6. Status
Status describes our position on society, in the
eyes of others.
For sociologists, there are two types of status;
Ascribed status e.g. given at birth and,
Achieved status e.g. earned through effort
7. Roles
Roles describe behaviours expected of people in
certain positions in society.
We all play many different roles in our lifetimes.
Can you identify any of yours?
8. Culture
Culture describes the learned and shared way of
life of any society.
A culture can include language, beliefs, customs,
dress, diet, norms and values.
Our culture helps us to relate to others socially.
11. More Functionalism…
• Organic Analogy
Human Body Society
Heart Family
Turn to page 2 in your booklets..
Discuss points 1-3 in pairs.
Feedback in 5 minutes.
12. Evaluation of Functionalism
• Is society really that harmonious?
• What about conflict? (Marxism)
• Too deterministic. (Symbolic Interactionism)
13. Check Your Understanding!
White text books, page 5…
A’s complete the ‘check your understanding’ box.
B’s complete activity in the green box.
We will feed back in 10 minutes… GO!
14. Warm up!
1. Name a type of status.. Give an example.
2. Can you name three general features of culture?
3. Can you name a universal value?
4. Queuing is a British norm- what is the value?
5. Define the following functionalist terms:
• Value consensus
• Social integration
• Social solidarity
• Organic analogy
17. Marxism continued…
• Economic production fundamental to survival.
• The means of production owned by the
bourgeoisie.
money
materials
knowledge
18. Marxism Continued...
• This power struggle lead the proletariat
workforce to be exploited as they are forced
to sell their labour at whatever cost in order to
survive.
• Marx suggested that in time the proletariat
would develop a class consciousness and over
throw the bourgeoisie- but this never
happened.
19. Why do we put up with it?
• Ruling Class Ideology…
Althusser (1971) the role of social institutions is
to legitimate social class inequalities by making
ruling class values ‘the norm’.
20. Marxism Continued...
Marxist sociologists believe that all social
institutions help to socialise the working
classes in to accepting ruling class culture.
How does education do this?
How does the media do this?
Discuss in your pairs and feed back in 5.
21. Evaluation of Marxism
• Too much focus on the economy
• What about the middle class?
• One dimensional- too focused on conflict.
22. Check Your Understanding!
White textbooks page 9
A’s Exploring Capitalist Values
B’s Check your understanding
We will feed back in in 10 mins GO!
23. Warm Up!
1. Not proletariat...
2. Not communism...
3. The proletariat work force are... by the ruling
classes.
4. Knowledge, materials and money describe
the ‘means of....’
5. Describes a system based on reward... And
begins with ‘m’.
26. Are You a Puppet?
• Reject structuralist theories as ignoring
individual interaction
• Our behaviour is actually developed through
our exposure to social symbols and our
experience of interaction
• We are not a product of our environment, but
our environment is a product of us
28. Goffman says…
Interaction is simply successful roleplaying in the
drama of every day life.
Stage = environment
Actors = individuals in certain roles
Stage directions = Social symbols
30. What is a Master Status?
This is Zig…
… a CRIMINAL
31. Criminal
act
Accepts
Prison
label
S.F.P
Cannot Labelled as
find work criminal
32. Check your understanding...
Read pages 5 and 6 in your basics booklet..
Have a go at creating your own flow diagram
depicting the reinforcement of negative
behaviour in school.
In 5 mins, volunteers can share their diagrams
with the class.
33. More checking your understanding...
Turn to pages 14 and 15 in the white text books.
A’s complete ‘check your understanding’ on page
14.
B’s complete ‘exploring social institutions’ on page
15.
Work individually for 5 mins then share your
thoughts with your partner.
34. Warm Up!
In your own words, define the following terms…
Master Status
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Subjective (in terms of identity)
Social symbols
35. Postmodernism
• Society is changing and fragmenting.
• Meta-narratives can no longer hope to
explain the structure of society.
• Instead, we must understand choice and
diversity as leading factors in our experience
of the social world.
36. First Came Modernity
• Industrialisation
• Urbanization
• Centralised Government
• Rational and Scientific Thinking
38. Postmodernism and Identity
• Steve Taylor 1999
Society has been transformed in to ‘something
resembling an endless shopping mall where
people now have much greater choice about
how they look, what they consume and what
they believe in’
39. Criticisms of Postmodernism
• Social class, gender and ethnicity are still
important identity factors.
• Although consumerism is important, in order
to consume, we need money, so choice is still
limited.
40. Check your understanding...
Work together through pages 7 and 8 in your
basics booklet.
Once you have done that, read through pages
16 to 18 in the white text books and have a go
at answering the questions on page 18.
41. Homework:
PART 1
Access the AS Sociology site on Moodle and find
the link to ‘Animal Farm’.
Watch it and answer all questions on page 4 of
your basics booklet.
42. Homework:
PART 2 *this will be assessed*
Define the concept of Status. Illustrate your
answer with examples.
Roles
Norms
Culture
43. How do I do that?
This homework will be testing your AO1 skills.
It should take around 5 minutes to answer each
question.
Clearly define the concept.
Provide two examples.
Expand on your examples.
