Introduction

The Shelter

• You will be placed into groups 5-6

• In your groups please read the directions at the top of the page

• As a group make decisions as to who you will let into your shelter

Social Sciences

Anthropology: classification and analysis of humans and their unique society, descriptively, culturally, historically, and physically. Its unique contribution to studying the bonds of human social relations has been the distinctive concept of culture. It has also differed from other sciences concerned with human social behaviour (especially sociology) in its emphasis on data from non-literate peoples and archaeological exploration.

Social Sciences

Psychology: science or study of the thought processes and behaviour of humans and other animals in their interaction with the environment. Psychologists study process of sense perception, thinking, learning, cognition, emotions and motivations, personality, abnormal behaviours, interactions between individuals, and interactions with the environment.

Social Sciences

Sociology: scientific study of human social behaviour. As the study of humans in their collective aspect, sociology is concerned with all group activities- economic, social, political, and religious. Sociologists study such areas as bureaucracy, community, deviant behaviour, family, public opinion, social change, social mobility, social stratification, and such specific problems as crime, divorce, child abuse, and substance addiction. Sociology tries to determine the laws governing human behaviour in social context.

Bias (or biased)

• Prejudice in a general or specific sense, usually in the sense for having a predilection to one particular point of view or ideology.

• Example: ‘the news paper article was biased in the report as they only reported one point of view of what happened.”

Perception

• Having an understanding of what one sees, the way one thinks, based on experience.

• Example: A baby will not crawl on a glass table because they cannot see the glass is there, in their experience if they cannot see it then it’s not really there.

Stereotype

• An oversimplified mental picture that assigns certain characteristics to particular groups.

• Example: ‘All girls like dolls. All boys like sports.’

First Impressions

• The initial opinion one forms of a person, place or event.

• Example: “When I first met her, she seemed ‘snobbish’ but now that I know her, I understand she is really shy.”

Reflection #1

• Based on the Shelter activity that we did in class

• Complete the questions on the sheet

• This is a personal opinion assignment and therefore there are no wrong answers BUT be sure to support your opinion!

Evolution

See Mrs McTavish’s AMAZING slide show on evolution…

And watch a film

Then complete the reflection questions

Age of Enlightenment and Revolution

• Philosophes• Democracy and capitalism would destroy

aristocracy and other oppressive forms of political leadership

• American Revolution 1776, French Revolution 1789 and urbanization and industrialization in UK, Western Europe and USA

• Intellectual revolution

Changes in Society

• Urbanization– Housing shortage– Crime– Poverty – Child labour– Unsafe working conditions

– WHY?

Auguste Comte

• French philosopher 1798-1857

• Coined the term sociology meaning study of social (being with others)

• Theory that societies contain social statics and social dynamics

Auguste Comte

• Social statics: forces for social order and stability

• Social dynamics: forces for conflict and change

• Positivism: a belief that the world can best be understood through scientific inquiry

• Believed that objective, bias-free knowledge only obtainable through science not religion

Comte’s Positivism

• Methodological: the application of scientific knowledge to both physical and social phenomena

Social and political: the use of such knowledge to predict the results of different policies so that the best one could be chosen

Sociological Imagination

• The ability to see the relationship between individuals experiences and the larger society.

• Helps to distinguish between personal troubles and social issues.

Personal vs Social

• Personal issues involve individuals or their close network of people

• It is private• Can be resolved by

the individuals involved

• Social or public issues are those of the greater society

• Beyond individual control

• Some personal issues may be driven by social issues

Sociological Imagination

Race: there is one race: the human race

Ethnicity: refers to the cultural heritage or identity of a group and is based on factors such as language or country of origin.

Class: is the relative location of a person or group within a larger society, based on wealth, power, prestige, or other valued resources.

Sociological Imagination

Sex: refers to the biological and anatomical differences between females and males.

Gender: refers to the culturally and socially constructed meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with sex differences, referred to as femininity and masculinity.

5 Theoretical Perspectives

5 Theoretical Perspectives

1. Functionalist Perspective

2. Conflict Theory Perspective

3. Feminist Perspective

4. Symbolic Perspective

5. Postmodernist Perspective

Functional Perspective

Based on the assumption that society is, a stable, orderly system. This stable system is characterized by social consensus whereby the majority of members share a common set of values, beliefs, and behavioural expectations.

Conflict Theory Perspective

• Groups in society are engaged in a continuous power struggle for control of scarce resources. Conflict may take the form of politics, litigation, negotiations, or family discussions about financial matters.

• The inevitability of clashes between social groups (past)

• Social life as a continuous power struggle among competing social groups (current)

Feminist Perspective

• Focus on the siginificance of gender in understanding and explaining inequalities that exist between men and women in the household, in the paid labour force, and in the realms of politics, law, and culture.

• Created by women to fill the missing gap of their view on sociology

Symbolic Perspective

• According to symbolic interaction perspectives, society in the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups.

• Focus is on small groups rather than large-scale social structures.

Postmodernist Perspective

• According to postmodernist perspectives, existing theories have been unsuccessful in explaining social life in contemporary societies that are characterized by postindustrialization, consumerism, and global communication.

Micro vs Macro

• Microlevel analysis focuses on a small group rather than large-scale social structures

• Macrolevel analysis examines whole societies, large-scale social structures, and social systems.

Theoretical Perspective Worksheet

In groups 2-3 discuss each statement and determine which theoretical perspective the sociologist is using.

Complete the sheet and then we will discuss it as a class.

5 Ways of Knowing the World

1. Personal; we discover for ourselves the things we know.

2. Tradition: people hold to a belief because everyone knows it to be true.

3. Authority: experts tell us that something is true.

5 Ways of Knowing the World

4. Religion: we accept the truths that our particular scriptures and religious officials advocate.

5. Science: the scientific was of knowing which involves controlled systematic observation; through public testing of all statements.