SOC 222 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Culture Shock, Body Modification
24 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
WHAT is Sociology??
- The study of society and human behavior
- Relationships, social context
Sociological perspective
- guide research, make accurate predictions about social
activity
Generalization
- rather than stereotyping, it is backed up by statistics → or data
Physical laws
- not other reason to believe otherwise (ex-gravity)
NO SOCIAL LAWS
*instead* = sociological theories
C. Wright Mills
→ culture pushes people to act a certain way
Social gravity
- Have to understand where someone comes from and their culture to understand
why they do what they do - he called this their “history
“We do not choose to exist
- Forces over which we have NO control
- Born to believe what our parents tell us
- Link us with some, but also divides us
Patriotism
- believe you are the best country in the world
- We are not born free
Egocentric
- way we do things are the right way
→ anything that deviants from this, are considered evil
- See much of our lives are a matter of what we’ve been pushed to do
*culture shock* do not realize, how you are until you move
The Lottery of Birth
(C. Wright Mills)
Sociological imagination
- ability to grasp the interplay between individuals and society
- Mirrors of our social contract
- Individual and society are inseparable
“Personal troubles of milieu (environment)”
“Public issues of social structures”
Troubles vs Issues
Troubles : within the characters of the individual and the people around them
Document Summary
The study of society and human behavior. Sociological perspective - guide research, make accurate predictions about social activity. Generalization - rather than stereotyping, it is backed up by statistics or data. Physical laws - not other reason to believe otherwise (ex-gravity) Culture pushes people to act a certain way. Have to understand where someone comes from and their culture to understand why they do what they do - he called this their history. Forces over which we have no control. Born to believe what our parents tell us. Link us with some, but also divides us. Patriotism - believe you are the best country in the world. Egocentric - way we do things are the right way. Anything that deviants from this, are considered evil. See much of our lives are a matter of what we"ve been pushed to do. *culture shock* do not realize, how you are until you move.
