Heads Up Sociology Read online

  Contents

  HOW TO USE THIS eBOOK

  What is SOCIOLOGY?

  What do SOCIOLOGISTS DO?

  RESEARCH methods

  Who AM I? What is my IDENTITY?

  GIRLS and BOYS

  WOMEN and work

  Biography: JUDITH BUTLER

  What’s my TRIBE?

  Does RACE matter?

  Biography: ELIJAH ANDERSON

  Who do you LOVE?

  AGE and society

  What does FAMILY mean?

  Are we all MIDDLE CLASS now?

  Biography: KARL MARX

  Identity: IN CONTEXT

  Does society EXIST? What do schools TEACH?

  Are INSTITUTIONS a good thing?

  Biography: CHARLES WRIGHT MILLS

  Who holds the POWER?

  What role does RELIGION play in society?

  Does RELIGION still MATTER?

  RURAL life versus URBAN life

  A sense of COMMUNITY

  Biography: MAX WEBER

  WHY do we WORK?

  How is work CHANGING?

  Biography: ARLIE HOCHSCHILD

  WATCHING the workers

  Social institutions: IN CONTEXT

  When it all goes WRONG Why do people commit CRIMES?

  Biography: ÉMILE DURKHEIM

  BREAKING society’s RULES

  White-collar CRIME

  Are we all on CAMERA?

  WHODUNNIT?

  Biography: HOWARD BECKER

  HEALTH and equality

  Not FITTING in

  Crime and health: IN CONTEXT

  Why is the world so UNFAIR? Super-RICH!

  Wealth and STATUS

  The POVERTY trap

  Who’s to BLAME?

  Where did RACISM come from?

  Why haven’t developing countries DEVELOPED yet?

  Biography: BOAVENTURA DE SOUSA SANTOS

  Is GLOBALIZATION a good thing?

  GLOCALIZATION

  Biography: SASKIA SASSEN

  What’s our IMPACT on the PLANET?

  Biography: ANTHONY GIDDENS

  Wealth and development: IN CONTEXT

  Modern CULTURE I SHOP therefore I am?

  What is CULTURE?

  Biography: PIERRE BOURDIEU

  LEISURE time

  We are living in UNCERTAIN times

  Biography: ZYGMUNT BAUMAN

  Does the MASS MEDIA affect YOU?

  Who owns the MEDIA?

  Who DECIDES what’s news?

  Where do you get your NEWS from?

  What does the INTERNET DO for us?

  Do you live ONLINE?

  Culture and the media: IN CONTEXT

  Directory of sociologists

  Glossary

  Acknowledgements

  Imprint

  How to use this eBook

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  Are men and women really that different? Why are some people super-rich when others are homeless? Why do some people commit crimes? These are some of the questions at the heart of life as a human being and if you have asked questions like these, then you are already a budding sociologist. sociology is the study of society but it is also a fresh way of thinking about the world.

  Sociologists, the people who study sociology, are interested in the ways in which individuals, groups, and societies are shaped and how they interact with each other. They look at how social institutions such as the family, the education system, religions, and governments work, and consider the ways in which they impact on people’s lives.

  Sociology emerged at the end of the 18th century, when large parts of the world were changing rapidly because of increasing industrialization. German philosopher, Karl Marx, and other thinkers of the time, were concerned with the growing inequality they saw. They wanted to understand what was happening and the effect it was having on people and societies. Sociology is a social science that uses a range of methods to investigate the social world. Using evidence and logic, it develops and tests theories such as Marxism and feminism, which can help this process. To be a sociologist also requires what US sociologist Charles Wright Mills called the “Sociological Imagination” – the ability to challenge common sense ideas about the world and to ask new questions. For instance, we might ask “Why do we have problems like racism and homophobia?” or “Does the news tell the truth?”

  Most importantly, sociology offers the possibility of understanding our lives more fully and of making them better. As Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman said, the purpose of sociology is “to come to the help of the individual”.

  Sociology is concerned with people, and sociologists learn a variety of skills that can be used in many different occupations. Sociologists are able to analyse information, they have an enquiring mind, and they like to dig a little deeper into issues. many people who study sociology will want to bring their skills and knowledge to areas of work that help people who are struggling in society, or they may enjoy working to bring the best out of people.

  academic Sociologists

  Lecturer

  A lecturer works in a college or university. He or she gives lectures to large groups of students in a particular area of sociology, and discusses it with them in small groups or seminars. A lecturer also writes books and articles (papers) about sociology.

  Researcher

  Also working in a college or university, a researcher spends his or her time looking into projects that will reveal more about important social issues.

  Writer

  Some academic sociologists spend most of their time writing books and papers for publication in journals. The books may be to introduce readers to the subject or be in-depth discussions and analysis of a particular topic.

  Sociologists in public service

  Police

  A lot of sociology is about why things go wrong for some individuals. This knowledge can be useful for people working in the police or prison services. It can help them understand why people break the law and how they can be helped.

  Social worker

  Sociology highlights why some people struggle in society. Understanding the issues people face and how they affect people can help a social worker improve the lives of vulnerable or socially excluded people (people who feel isolated or neglected in society).

  Politician

  Sociology helps people understand how society works and what makes a good society, which is something every politician should know. Sociology can uncover causes of inequality and discrimination.

  Policy analyst

  A policy analyst works to think up government policies that will help society run more smoothly and fairly for everyone.

  Teacher

  Studying sociology can help uncover what motivates and stimulates people – ideal skills for a teacher. Knowing the issues that some families can face in society also helps teachers find ways to work with students who are struggling.

  Sociologists in business

  Recruitment

  Understanding what motivates people and the opportunities that are available for them in society can help anyone who
works in recruitment to match the right person to the right job.

  Human resources

  Working in human resources (HR) in an office or other workplace, requires working with people to develop their potential. Sociology can help explain how and why people behave in certain ways in an environment such as an office.

  Marketing

  Understanding how society works and noticing people’s patterns of behaviour are ideal skills for working in marketing. This knowledge would help marketing professionals develop a marketing strategy for a product.

  sociology is a science – or rather a social science – which seeks to find out how society works. like other science subjects, it relies on research to make new discoveries and insights. Sociologists do not carry out experiments in the laboratory, they try to engage as much as possible with people to find out how they understand the society in which they live. these are some of the most common ways a sociologist gathers information.

  Interviews

  An approach called a “semi-structured interview”, is a sort of guided conversation. The interviewer creates a relaxed atmosphere for the participants to talk freely about how the subject being researched affects their life. It does not matter whether something is true or false. What matters is what is meaningful for the people being interviewed, and how they interpret and understand the world around them.

  Focus groups

  Setting up a focus group is a way to find out how a small group of people feel about a particular situation. The sociologist gathers between six and twelve people who typically all have something in common. For example, they could all be members of the same community, workplace, or youth group. As well as gathering information about the subject of the research, the sociologist is also observing how the members of the group interact.

  Surveys and statistics

  If a researcher wants to gain information from a larger number of participants, he or she may use a survey. This consists of carefully planned questions that have a limited number of responses. The researcher will analyse the results and identify patterns.

  Statistics from governments or organizations (called data sets) provide information based on the responses of thousands of people. “Big data” gathered from huge amounts of people and processed by computers, brings insights into the attitudes of people around the world.

  Ethnography

  In some cases, a researcher tries to blend in with a group, such as a community or a workplace, spending a long time, possibly years, observing and noting how the members of the group live and what their values and customs are. This process, known as ethnography, tries to get as close to the experience of the members as possible. It can be a challenging undertaking; to be part of a community and not reveal that you are a researcher requires a lot of planning, though you can also take a more open approach.

  Our identity is influenced by factors such as our class, ethnicity, age, and gender as well as our tastes in things such as fashion and music. The process of finding out who we are and where we belong takes place within society. Sociologists explore the relationship between individuals and the society they live in.

  What is my IDENTITY?

  GIRLS and BOYS

  WOMEN and work

  What’s my TRIBE?

  Does RACE matter?

  WHO do you LOVE?

  AGE and SOCIETY

  What does FAMILY mean?

  Are we all MIDDLE CLASS now?

  where does our identity come from? SOCIOLOGists DO NOT SEE Our identitY AS A fixed thing that we are born with, but as a mixture of things, some of which we cannot change EASILY, SUCH AS OUR RACE AND GENDER, and others that we can, SUCH AS OUR JOB OR THE WAY WE DRESS.

  A changing world

  In previous generations many people had one job for the whole of their life and this gave them a sense of security and certainty about who they were. There were also powerful institutions that were deeply embedded in people’s lives, such as religion, which also provided people with a strong sense of how they fitted into the world. Today, however, these factors are less fixed in people’s lives and these certainties no longer exist.

  Factors that create identity

  Sociologists study how identity, the sense of who one is, emerges out of a relationship between the individual and various parts and processes of society. British sociologist Richard Jenkins has spent time thinking about how identity is formed. He describes it as a “dialectical” process with society. What he means by dialectical in this case is that two opposing aspects of identity come together to create something new. The two aspects are personal characteristics, over which the individual may be able to exert some control, and social characteristics including class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity, over which people have considerably less control.

  The various social characteristics of identity are discussed in greater depth later in this chapter, where we discover that they are “social constructions”, meaning that something that may seem “natural” is actually the outcome of social, historical, and cultural developments that have changed over time. This is, in many respects, the key to understanding what sociology is about – it explores how so much of what happens around and to people can be explained by understanding the society in which the person exists.

  We are all different Our identity comes from a mixture of factors, some of which are fixed, and others that we can choose. We do not exist in isolation, and the society we live in also helps to create our identity.

  Managing identity

  For some people, maintaining their identity can be difficult. They can have a lifestyle or perhaps an illness that leads them, in particular circumstances, to be unfairly stigmatized (or marked out as being different or bad). US sociologist Erving Goffman in his book Stigma (1963) analysed the effect that being stigmatized can have on someone. He talks about how some people are required to manage their identity to avoid negative reactions, such as people who are gay, have been in prison, or have suffered from mental illness. Having to do this means exhaustive planning and causes psychological stress so as not to accidently reveal a secret.

  In the 1990s, British sociologist Anthony Giddens tried to work out what aspect of our identity is constant, when so many traditions have changed. He says that people increasingly turn to their body as something they can control, and it becomes the area where people display their identity. Think about how many “selfies” are posted on social media, and how much time and money people spend on their appearance. People often express who they would like to be by how they present their bodies, such as by getting a tattoo as a way to show which social group they belong to.

  So finding your identity is an important process that takes place within your society.

  The first “selfie” was taken by Robert Cornelius, in Philadelphia in 1839.

  See also: I SHOP therefore I am? | Do you live ONLINE?

  we may think we know what it means to be a boy or a girl, it seems like something completely natural. We are born as either a boy or a girl and how we behave reflects this biological fact. however, sociology tells us that what makes gender has a lot to do with the society in which we live.

  Is it all about biology?

  Is our gender identity (whether we are a boy or a girl) linked only to our biology or is it more complex than that? What constructs our gender has a great deal to do with the society and times in which we live. If something is natural or genetic then it would be the same in every place and in every historical period. What we find though, is that what it means to be male or female changes constantly: it is never a fixed thing.

  For example, what it was to be a man or woman a hundred years ago is quite different from what it is to be a woman or man today. A hundred years ago, women were not allowed to vote and were even discouraged from offering opinions; now a woman can run for president of the United States. There are all sorts of associations with gender that have also changed. The colour pink is now strongly linked with young girls, with clothes and to
ys for little girls all coming in a very similar shade. However, in Victorian England pink was a boy’s colour, it was seen as a "younger" form of the “manly” colour red.

  Being socialized

  Sociologists have identified a process, called socialization, which is the way that we learn how to fit into our society, finding out what is acceptable and what is expected of us. Gender socialization refers to a range of obvious and subtle processes that shape our behaviour as girls or boys. US sociologist Iris Marion Young’s book called Throwing like a Girl explores how boys and girls are socialized to behave differently. For example, girls are encouraged to think that they cannot throw a ball well and that their bodies are fragile and weak, while boys are encouraged to think the opposite.

  Learning to fit in The process of socialization means that boys and girls learn what sort of behaviour is acceptable in society and what is not. If boys want to play with dolls they may be discouraged in order to fit in with what's considered "normal".

  Putting on a performance

  Another way of thinking about how our gender is constructed by society is provided by US sociologist Judith Butler. She believes that we learn to act as male or female. It is the impersonation of socially expected behaviour (what she refers to as “gender performativity”) that constructs gender. Gender is therefore something that is external rather than internal to us. This constant performing of gender creates the false impression that what is a social practice is natural.