Unit 1 the sociological perspective Lead-in

1. What is sociology? What does it study?

2. How do we call people who are engaged in sociology?

3. Why do you want to become a sociologist?

Scan the text and answer the question:

How is sociology different from other sciences?

Text 1 what is sociology?

Some disciplines are best defined by their subject matter: botanists study plants; political scientists study government. But sociology is different.

Sociologists study a very broad range of topics.

Formally defined, sociology is the systematic and scientific study of human social behavior. Sociology begins with the observation that social life displays certain basic regularities.

The sociological perspective assumes that social factors - rather than biological of psychological ones - are especially useful in explaining the regularities in the way people act. Sociologists focus on how individual behavior is shaped by factors such as the influence of groups to which we belong (such as families, sports teams or gangs), the social categories in which we are located

( race, age, gender, social class, and others), and how we are taught to behave by those with whom we interact. Sociologists also pay attention to how people actively create groups, collectively define the meaning of being black of white, old or young, rich of poor, male of female, and establish and communicate rules for behavior. In other words, sociology views individuals and society as mutually influencing each other. People create social reality, and at the same time, they are shaped by it.

Many people tend to lose track of the importance of social forces and come to believe that they alone shape their lives. Such individuals need to develop the sociological imagination, a term first used by C. Wright Mills (1959). He defined it as an awareness of “the intersection between history and biography”, by which he meant an understanding of the relationship between larger social factors and people’s personal lives. Without a good sociological imagination, individuals may fail to understand the true origins and character of the problems they face and thus may be unable to respond to them effectively.

Mills differentiates between personal troubles, which result from individual failings, and social issues, which are caused by larger social factors. For example, many years ago when divorce was quite uncommon, it was generally understood as a personal trouble caused by individualistic factors such as adultery; its proper remedy required that the particular individuals involved in a marriage change, perhaps through undergoing some form of counseling or therapy. Today divorce is widespread, and although personal factors and individualistic solutions remain relevant in specific cases, divorce has also become a social issue, influenced by social trends such as the increasing availability of jobs, which allow women to support themselves if they choose to leave bad marriages and the greater acceptance of divorced individuals by society in general. Given such factors, it no longer makes sense to assume that the only way to lower the divorce rate is to concentrate on individuals’ failings. If we wish to respond effectively to such social issues as divorce, high crime rates, teenage pregnancy, or poverty, we must use the sociological imagination in order to identify and change the collective as well as the individual causes of these problems.

Comprehension check

1. Complete the definition: Sociology is…

2. Enumerate factors which influence people’s behavior.

3. Do individuals influence society or vice versa?

4. What is the sociological imagination?

5. What are the causes of divorce (personal or social factors)?