This document defines and describes 21 key concepts in sociology, including society, community, social structure, social institutions, roles, socialism, socialization, social control mechanisms, customs, culture, acculturation, standard of living, dynamics of social change, social stress, social problems, social pathology, social surveys, case studies, field studies, communication, and social defense. Each concept is defined and an example is typically provided to illustrate the concept.

1. Concepts in
sociology
DR.C.SASHIDHARAN M.D

2. 2211 Conceqssddpts2 in sociology
• 1)society
• 2)community
• 3)social structure
• 4)social
institutions
• 5)Role
• 6)socialism
• 7)socialization
• 8)social control
mechanisms
9)customs
10)culture
11)acculturation
12)standard of living
13)dynamics of social
change
14)social stress
15)social problems
16)social pathology
17)social surveys
18)case study
19) field study
20)communication
21) social defense
21 concepts in sociology

4. 1) society
• Human beings everywhere are members of a group or groups.
• Aristotle said a man who can live without society is either a beast or
God.
• A group of people may are may not form a society for example
• A group of people coming together temporary for a while to witness a
cricket match do not constitute a society they are merely a crowd. But
if the same people settle down and organize themselves then they
form a society.
• the simple definition of society is organisation of member agents.

5. COMMUNITY

6. 2) community
• Various definitions of community are there some of them:
• “The people living in a particular place or region and usually linked by
common interest”
• “ A group of individuals and families living together In a defined geographic
area usually compromising a village town or city”
• WHO expert committee definition is :
• “A community is a social group determined by geographical boundaries and/or
common values and interest“
• It’s members knows and interacts with each other it functions within a
particular social structure and exhibits and creates certain norms values and
social institutions.

7. 3) social structure

8. 3) social structure and social organisation
• Social structure refers to the pattern of inter relations between persons.
• Every society has a social structure which is a complex of major
institutions groups power structure and status hierarchy.
• the study of social structure is compared to the study of anatomy of
sociology and the study of social organisation is like study of physiology of
sociology

9. 4) social institutions

10. 4) social institutions examples
family Club Church

11. 4) social institutions examples
Schools
Hospitals Political parties

12. 5) Role
• In a society individuals are allocated roles as people in a drama.
• sociologists have classified roles into ascribed and achieved according
to whether a particular role is given by virtue of sex, age and birth
status or acquired by virtue of education, achievement or
qualification.

14. 6) Socialism and Capitalism
• Socialism is the concept of economic policy that favours the use of
property and resources of the country for the public welfare.
• It is a system of production and distribution based on social
ownership for raising the living standard of the working class as
opposed to capitalism which is based on private ownership.
• The Motto of capitalism is “all for each” and “each for each” and the
Moto of socialism is “all for all” and “each for all”

16. 7) socialization

17. 8) social control mechanisms

18. 8) social control mechanisms
• In every society there are rules, formal and informal, for
the maintenance of relationships of authority and subordination.
The laws and enactments of Parliament are social control
mechanisms.
In the field of health, there are various Acts, some central and
others stale or local which help to maintain the standards of health.
Even in small organizations, there are sets of formal rules and
regulations which control the behavior of individuals to
perform different roles.

19. 9)customs

20. Customs
followed in
festivals

22. 10) culture

24. 11) acculturation

26. 11) acculturation
There are various ways by which culture contact takes place :
(1) trade and commerce
(2) industrialization
(3) propagation of Religion
(4) education
(5) conquest-The British brought their culture into India through
conquest.
(6) Media - The radio, the television, the cinema have been important
factors in shaping the
cultural-behavior patterns of people.

27. 12) standard of living
The term “standard of living” refers to the usual scale of our expenditure, the
goods we consume and the services we Enjoy.
It includes food, dress, house, amusements and in short the mode of living.
The standard of living in a country depends upon :
(1) the level of national income
(2) the total amount of goods and services a country is able to produce
(3) the size of the population
(4) the level of education
(5) general price level and
(6) the distribution of national income.

29. 13) Dynamics of social change
• The dynamic of social change refers to the processes and factors that
drive changes in society over time.
Factors which drive changes

30. 14) social stress

31. 15) social problems
• A social problem is an issue within the society that makes it difficult
for people to achieve their full potential. It is a problem that affects
many people within a society. Poverty, unemployment, unequal
opportunity, racism, malnutrition are examples of social problems.
So are substandard housing, Prostitution, child abuse and neglect.

32. 16) Social pathology
Sociologists have demonstrated that the spread of diseases is heavily influenced
by the socioeconomic status of individuals, ethnic traditions or beliefs, and other
cultural factors. Where medical research might gather statistics on a disease,
a sociological perspective of an illness would provide insight on what external
factors caused the demographics who contracted the disease to become ill.
The social pathology of accidents, diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, cancer, chronic bronchitis have all been subject of
recent investigations in medical literature.

34. 17) social surveys

35. 18) case study
• A case study is a detailed study of a specific subject, such as
a person, group, place, event, organization, or phenomenon.
• A case study research design usually involves qualitative
methods, but quantitative methods are sometimes also
used. Case studies are good for describing, comparing,
evaluating and understanding different aspects of a research
problem.

37. 19) field study

38. 20) communication
the flow of information, the circulation of knowledge and ideas,
and the propagation of thoughts.
The role of communication in community health is to help
motivate people to accept ideas; the ultimate aim of
communication is to bring about changes in behavior.
The mass media (e.g., song and drama, radio talks, posters) are
extensively used as vehicles of dissemination of information.

39. 21) social defense
Many States in India have enacted the Children Act for the prevention and control
of juvenile delinquency.
under the suppression of Immoral traffic in Women and Girls Act, services are
being provided for the elimination of prostitution in society.
Social defense is a system developed to defend society against criminality not
merely by treating and defending the offended, but also by creating such
conditions in the community which are conducive for a healthy and
wholesome growth of human life.
The Government of India renamed the Central Bureau of Correctional Services as
National Institute of Social Defense in 1975.
This Institute is under the Department of Social Welfare.

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