This document provides an overview of sociology as a discipline, including its systematic study of human society and behavior from a sociological perspective. It discusses the benefits of taking a sociological approach, examines key theorists and theories like structural functionalism and social conflict theory. It also outlines how sociology originated in response to social changes and how the three major theoretical paradigms - structural-functional, social-conflict, and symbolic interactionism - provide different lenses for understanding society.

1. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
The Sociological
Perspective
The systematic study of human society

2. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
What Is Sociology?
“...The systematic study of human society ”
– Systematic
• Scientific discipline that focuses attention on patterns of
behavior
– Human society
• Group behavior is primary focus; how groups influence
individuals and vice versa
– At the “heart of sociology”
• The sociological perspective which offers a unique view of
society

3. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Why Take Sociology?
• Education and liberal arts
– Well-rounded as a person
– Social expectations
• More appreciation for diversity
– The global village
– Domestic social marginality
• Enhanced life chances
– Micro and macro understanding
– Increase social potentials

4. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Benefits of the Sociological
Perspective
1. Helps us assess the truth of
common sense
2. Helps us assess both opportunities
and constraints in our lives
3. Empowers us to be active
participants in our society
4. Helps us live in a diverse world

5. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Importance of Global
Perspective
• Where we live makes a great difference in
shaping our lives
• Societies throughout the world are
increasingly interconnected through
technology and economics.
• Many problems that we face in the United
States are more serious elsewhere.
• Thinking globally is a good way to learn
more about ourselves.

6. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
The Sociological Perspective
Peter Berger
• Seeing the general in the particular
– Sociologists identify general social patterns in
the behavior of particular individuals.
• Seeing the strange in the familiar
– Giving up the idea that human behavior is
simply a matter of what people decide to do
– Understanding that society shapes our lives

7. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Durkheim’s Study of Suicide
• Emile Durkheim’s research showed that society
affects even our most personal choices.
– More likely to commit: male Protestants who were
wealthy and unmarried
– Less likely to commit: male Jews and Catholics who
were poor and married
• One of the basic findings: Why?
– The differences between these groups had to do with
“social integration.”
– Those with strong social ties had less of a chance of
committing suicide.

8. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
C. Wright Mills’
Sociological Imagination
• The power of the sociological perspective
lies not just in changing individual lives but
in transforming society.
• Society, not people’s personal failings, is
the cause of social problems.
• The sociological imagination transforms
personal problems into public issues.

9. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
The Origins of Sociology
• One of the youngest of academic disciplines,
sociology has its origins in powerful social forces.
• Social Change
– Industrialization, urbanization, political revolution, and
a new awareness of society
• Science
– 3-Stages: Theological, Metaphysical & Scientific
– Positivism–A way of understanding based on science
• Gender & Race
– These important contributions have been pushed to the
margins of society.

10. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Sociological Theory
• Theory: a statement of how and why
facts are related
– Explains social behavior to the real world
• Theoretical paradigm: A set of
fundamental assumptions that guides
thinking
– Structural-functional
– Social-conflict
– Symbolic-interaction

11. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Structural-Functional Paradigm
• The basics
– A macro-level orientation, concerned with broad
patterns that shape society as a whole
– Views society as a complex system whose parts work
together to promote solidarity and stability
• Key elements:
– Social structure refers to any relatively stable patterns
of social behavior found in social institutions.
– Social function refers to the consequences for the
operation of society as a whole.

12. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Who’s Who in the Structural-
Functional Paradigm
• Auguste Comte
– Importance of social integration during times of rapid
change
• Emile Durkheim
– Helped establish sociology as a discipline
• Herbert Spencer
– Compared society to the human body
• Robert K. Merton
– Manifest functions are recognized and intended
consequences.
– Latent functions are unrecognized and unintended
consequences.
– Social dysfunctions are undesirable consequences.

13. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Social-Conflict Paradigm
• The basics:
– A macro-oriented paradigm
– Views society as an arena of inequality that
generates conflict and social change
• Key elements:
– Society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the
expense of the majority.
– Factors such as race, sex, class, and age are linked
to social inequality.
– Dominant group vs. disadvantaged group relations

14. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Who’s Who in the
Social-Conflict Paradigm
• Karl Marx
– The importance of social class in inequality
and social conflict
• W.E.B. Du Bois
– Race as the major problem facing the United
States in the 20th century

15. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Feminism and the
Gender-Conflict Approach
• A point of view that focuses on inequality
and conflict between women and men
• Closely linked to feminism, the advocacy
of social equality for women and men
• Women important to the development of
sociology: Harriet Martineau and Jane
Addams

16. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
The Race-Conflict
Approach
• A point of view that focuses on inequality
and conflict between people of different
racial and ethnic categories
• People of color important to the
development of sociology: Ida Wells
Barnett and W.E.B. Du Bois

17. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm
• The basics
– A micro-level orientation, a close-up focus on
social interactions in specific situations
– Views society as the product of everyday
interactions of individuals
• Key elements
– Society is nothing more than the shared reality
that people construct as they interact with one
another.
– Society is a complex, ever-changing mosaic of
subjective meanings.

18. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Who’s Who in the
Symbolic-Interaction Paradigm
• Max Weber
– Understanding a setting from the people in it
• George Herbert Mead
– How we build personalities from social
experience
• Erving Goffman
– Dramaturgical analysis
• George Homans & Peter Blau
– Social-exchange analysis

19. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Critical Evaluation
• Structural-Functional
– Too broad, ignores inequalities of social class,
race & gender, focuses on stability at the
expense of conflict
• Social-Conflict
– Too broad, ignores how shared values and
mutual interdependence unify society, pursues
political goals
• Symbolic-Interaction
– Ignores larger social structures, effects of
culture, factors such as class, gender & race

20. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Applying the Approaches:
The Sociology of Sports
• The Functions of Sports
– A structural-functional approach directs our
attention to the ways in which sports help
society operate
– Sports have functional and dysfunctional
consequences

21. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Sports and Conflict
• Social-conflict analysis points out that
games people play reflect their social
standing.
• Sports have been oriented mostly toward
males.
• Big league sports excluded people of
color for decades.
• Sports in the United States are bound up
with inequalities based on gender, race,
and economic power.

22. Sociology, 12th Edition by John Macionis
Sports as Interaction
• Following the symbolic-interaction
approach, sports are less a system than
an ongoing process.
• All three theoretical approaches—
structural-functional, social-conflict, and
symbolic-interaction—provide different
insights into sports. None is more correct
than the others.