SOC 312: American Society

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SOC 312 American Society

• Section 1 What is Sociology?

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What is Sociology?

• a discipline
• a profession
• a field of study
• a department
• in college of liberal arts
• in the social sciences

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Sociology versus Other Social and Behavioral
Sciences

• anthropology
• political science
• economics
• psychology

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Max Weber the topic

• behavior subjectively meaningful
• not instinctual
• not impulsive
• not biologically or psychologically determined
• social action takes others into account
• social psychological face to face, group
• organizational and institutional

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Levels of Analysis

• Macro
• institutions relatively enduring organizations
• organizations deliberately created positions and
  relationships
• Micro
• groups individuals with routine access to each
  other
• categories of individuals men and women, blacks
  and whites, students and teachers

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Bridging Levels of Analysis

• Most interesting questions
• what types of orgs are institutionalized?
• How? Why? So what?
• what types of groups become organized?
• How? Why? So what?
• what categories of individuals form groups?
• How? Why? So what?

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Realms of Social Action

• Culture (traditional focus of Anthropology)
• passed down or diffused
• Economy (Economics)
• produce and distribute necessities of life
• Politics (Political Science)
• power ability to get what you want despite
  resistance
• Society (Sociology)
• acted out

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Sociological Map
Realms Realms Realms Realms
Levels of Analysis Cultural Social Economic Political
Institution denominations public schools cities neighborhoods banking collective bargaining elections bipartisanship
Organization local church local school Lions Club Neighborhood Watch firm union Young Republicans NOW
Group discussion group lunch friends neighbors chatting kids playing co-workers at coffee break Labor Day picnickers meeting
Category Baptists students Residents immigrants Workers Managers Republicans Democrats
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What is in the Boxes?

• - social action
• - stuff that sociologists study
• - Why impose the structure?
• - descriptive
• - heuristic
• - So what?
• - can our map help us understand the world?
• - what is missing?

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Why Do People Smoke?
Psychology
Social Psychology

• because they are nervous
• because they feel anxiety differently
• because they are neurotic

• because their friends smoke
• because smoking is fun
• because smoking has become a habit

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More Macro Political Economy

• Organizations promote smoking for profit
• tobacco companies
• mass media
• Organizations that combat smoking
• medical industrial complex monopolize legal
  drugs and crush the competition
• government determines legality and regulates
  drugs (Why?)

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Why Are We Losing the War on Drugs?

• Drugs provide jobs for poor people
• hippies/college students
• ghetto residents
• Drugs provide cash crop for poor nations
• Colombia Drug Cartel
• Taliban in Afghanistan

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Conclusion
There are many different ways to explain social
action. Psychologists reduce it to
individual/personality disorders (e.g.,
neurotic). Social psychologists tend to focus on
the social aspectsubjective meaning for
individual entails taking others into account
e.g., smoking is cool
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Conclusion (continued)
More macro orientation looks at organizations
and institutions (republican capitalism and
political economy of drugs) Macro orientation
might focus on any realm (or set of
realms)cultural analysis of smoking as religious
ritual for Native Americans and its
commercialization by the colonizers. Sociological
analysis answers question but generates more
questions e.g., What is the interest of
government in regulation? Why are poor people
the criminals?