Introduction into sociology

1. SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
FOR HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE
Unit 7
Lesson 1
Introduction to Sociology

2. Learning Objectives
• To define the term ‘sociology’
• To identify key concepts in
sociology

3. What is sociology?
The study of social
behaviours.
Sociologists believe
humans are social
animals…
Challenges
every day
‘common-
sense’ or
traditional
assumptions
Can you
think of any
examples?
E.g. Love and
marriage
E.g. women look
after the house,
men bring in the
money
Why are women
stereotyped to
stay at home?
Why do people
fall in love and
marry?
Health and illness –
sociologists don’t look
just at biological factors
as underpinning health
and illness

4. What do sociologists explore?
Sociology explores the human processes of social
interactions through studying the relationship
between:
Individuals
Groups
Social institutions

5. Social Structures
• Society can be viewed as the sum of its social
institutions.
• May include;
– Family
– Friends
– Education system
– Work
– Economic system
– Political system
– Religious groups
– Health and social care services

6. • Sociologists look at;
• the way these social institutions are structured
– how they relate to each other
– how they influence how we behave
E.g. they may examine how our family background may
influence our values, attitudes, religious beliefs,
educational achievements, employment prospects and
our health and well-being.
Social Structures

7. • Draw a personal spider diagram identifying
the social institutions to which you belong.
• Identify how to or three of these institutions
have influenced your behaviour.
• In the groups on your table, discuss why you
think these particular institutions have
influenced you, and how.
ACTIVITY

8. Put the following list in order of which you think has
the most influence on our values, attitudes and beliefs,
to which one has the least influence.
Family
Environment
Culture/sub-culturePolitical
system
Education
system
Income (money)
available
Our peers
Religious
beliefs

9. How do sociologists explore?
By using
sociological
perspectives
Functionalism
Marxist
Interactionist
Feminist
Postmodernist
New Right
Collectivism

10. Which areas of human life does
sociology look at?
Crime
Family
Mass media
Religion
Health

11. Socialisation
• Our language, values, beliefs, customs, and behaviour
surround us from birth and we take them as ‘truth’ when
we are a small, weak and vulnerable child, totally
dependent upon our adult carers for survival.
• Socialisation is the process of learning the skills and
attitudes which enable individuals to live easily with other
members of the community. It is the process through which
people learn the norms and values of society.
• This socialisation process can be broken down into two
distinct phases:

12. Socialisation Phases
PRIMARY
SOCIALISATION
SECONDARY
SOCIALISATION
Takes place from the
very beginning and
comes from our
immediate family.
Carries on when we
start to leave the family
home and begin school
and the wider society.

13. Norms and Values
• What do you think a norm is?
• Norms are social rules that define correct
behaviour in society.
• Can you think of any examples of a norm?
• What do you think a value is?
• Values are what are important to an
individual or social group.
• Can you think of any examples of values?

14. Values
Norms
e.g. monogamy.
e.g. marriage, making
a fuss of cheaters.

15. Sociologists are concerned with the study of human
societies, but more specifically the groups within these
societies and how these groups relate to each other
and influence individual behaviour.
Sociologists use a number of different concepts, such
as
• Social Structure
• Social Diversity
• Socialisation
…to describe and explain the nature of society and
how individuals become a part of it.

16. Back to institutions
Society
The family
Health and
social care
services
The
education
system
The economy
Religious
organisations
The political
system

17. Social Diversity
What do you think ‘Social Diversity’ refers to?
Differences of people within groups.
Can you think of any examples?

18. Society is a group of like minded
people governed by shared norms
and values

19. Social Diversity
How are people socially diverse?
• Age
• Gender
• Culture
• Ethnicity
• Social class
• Location
What do you think the
benefits of having a
diverse society are?

20. Structural Approaches
• Sometimes called social systems or
structuralistic approaches.
• Emphasise the power of society over the
individual.
• Believe the individual is largely controlled by
society.
• Think that society is in us, moulding our
thoughts and directing our actions.

21. • Argue that we are socialised in terms of the
culture of society.
• Say that our behaviour is shaped by the social
structure:
– We are kept in line by mechanisms of social
control.
– We learn roles, norms and values and act
accordingly.
Structural Approaches

22. Link to Health and Social Care
• This socialisation can vary from country to
country, each with a very different way of
seeing how a society should run.
• Hence in Britain we are seen as a
‘multicultural’ society in which there is very
different socialisation processes at work.

23. Link to Health and Social Care
• Each of these will have both serious and
subtle difference in their beliefs and
behaviours so the professional health and
social care worker must understand this basic
sociological process in order to meet the
different needs.
• WHERE DO YOU THINK PERSONAL BELIEFS/
VALUES COULD CAUSE CONFLICT IN HSC

24. CONTINUED
• ROCK STRATIFICATION

25. CONTINUED
• This stratification is seen as hierarchical with
those at the top having considerably more
advantages over those at the bottom and this
greatly effects health and lifestyle.
• There have been various attempts to make
society more ‘egalitarian’ where all members
are equal but in general this has not yet
worked very well.

26. • Look at the picture placed on your table and
say what you see
What is a perspective?

27. Picture 1

28. Picture 2

29. Picture 3 – What do you see? What is
the girl doing?

30. Sociology
Structural Theory Action Theory
Consensus Conflict
Functionalism Marxism Feminism
Symbolic
interactionism
(Interpretivism)
Theory can be said to be like looking at
society through different lenses – each
give it a different perspective or
appearance.