Midterm- Structuralism

Question 1

Who was Durkheim

Answer 1

• French social scientist, student of Comte and one of Sociology’s founders
• Theorized idea of a social fact
• Believed society is fundamentally about the structures that keep it going

Question 2

structuralism/structural functionism

Answer 2

• parsons and durkheim
• modern complex societies comprise institutions, rules/laws, practices, and patterns of conduct that keep society functional
• society is fundamentally about the structures that keep it going

Question 3

conflict theories

Answer 3

• marx, weber, dubois
• all societies are a product of people or groups who want to shape society in ways that benefit them and people like them
• society is fundamentally about power

Question 4

microsociology

Answer 4

• garfinkel, goffman, mead
• society emerges from aggregate behavior of individual group interactions
• not really a theory of society but an area of research

Question 5

Emergent phenomena/properties of structuralism

Answer 5

emergent phenomena= social facts

key qualities of emergent phenomena:
- aggregate of smaller units
- once in aggregate form, the new larger unit exhibits new, usually more powerful and different qualities. They are more than the sum of their parts.

Question 6

What is the collective and its influence on the individual?

Answer 6

collective representation: religious beliefs, traditions, cultural ideas (legends, myths, popular music…)
collective habits: public opinions, mass behaviors, public rituals, norms or practices

Question 7

Durkheim- why did he choose suicide?

Answer 7

he saw in the act of suicide the chance to show the power of social facts as not only real, but external and coercive on human behavior

suicide is seen as the most individual of acts, a kind of complete selfishness motivated by reasons unique to the individual and their life circumstances

suicide, if proven by durkheim as a social phenomenon, shows the power of sociological perspective

Question 8

Why did Durkheim take a statistical approach and how does this contrast with the usual approach?

Answer 8

durkheim found a set of countries that all defined and determined suicide similarly. he then looked at the variation between these countries. variation suggests a pattern and a pattern suggests social causes

surprising finding: predominantly Christian/protestant countries had a significantly higher suicide rate that predominantly catholic countries

Question 9

How does Durkheim know suicide is a social fact? (Motives, fluctuations, national similarities and differences)

Answer 9

because he saw that suicide followed patterns according to religion

Question 10

egotistic suicide

Answer 10

an individual’s societal ties are too weak

Question 11

altruistic suicide

Answer 11

individual’s ties to society are too strong

Question 12

anomic (anomie)

Answer 12

the moral regulation of society on the individual breaks down, changes suddenly, or no longer serves one’s goals, dreams, or hopes for the future

*anomie: feelings of disaffection with society and social life, you don’t understand your place in the world or how to fit in

Question 13

What is the role of the individual in Durkheim’s analysis?

Answer 13

durkheim thought one social cause of suicide involved one’s ties to society as a whole. essentially, how much you feel like you belong and fit into society and how much society governs you.

Question 14

Talcott Parsons (structural functionalist): Medicine as a social institution

Answer 14

-central institution in maintaining a functional society
- medicine maintains the motivational economy of society

Question 15

Parsons: illness as deviance

Answer 15

• illness is a socially acceptable departure from social obligations (work, family role, social engagements, etc)
• illness is itself a special role, and social role that we all take on in some point
• illness is an acceptable deviance

Question 16

parsons: sick role

Answer 16

• social role that means that you are recognized by others as a part of a group
• exceptions: you can be biologically ill but still barred from adopting the sick role (unrecognized disease)
• you need help to exit the sick role

Question 17

parsons: the relationship between intra/intergroup conflict

Question 18

Parsons: warmth and competence (intersection with hierarchy)

Answer 18

Stereotype content model: we tend to categorize Thems along two axes: “warmth” (is the individual/group a friend or foe?) and “competence” (how effectively can the individual or group carry out their intentions?)
For high warmth, high competence, there’s pride. Low warmth, high competence- envy. High warmth, low competence- pity. Low warmth, low competence- disgust.
Most fascinating part is a shift in this categorization
HH to HL: this is watch a parent decline into dementia, a situation evoking extremes of poignant protectiveness

Question 19

Parsons: honorable enemy phenomenon

Question 20

Parsons: contact theory

Answer 20

intergroup contact under appropriate conditions can effectively reduce prejudice between majority and minority group members

Question 21

structuralist issue

Answer 21

structural issues involve the facts that:

Socialization integrates people into society (through their social roles)
People come to internalize their social structures and thereby reproduce them