SOC 103 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-3: Richard Louv, Exogamy, Social Inequality

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 103
• Professor: Amrita Ahluwalia

Document Summary

Chapter 1 sociology and the study of society. People feel connected through similar work, educational and religious training, and lifestyle. Since we currently live in a world that places tremendous emphasis on the individual, including personal motivation, feelings, opinions, values, and beliefs, we tend to explain human behaviour by focusing on the individual psychological component. Society is in us, and might be said that it is us. The social world affects us in all our behaviours, including the most personal and private of human behaviours such as suicide. French sociologist emile durkheim published a classic study of suicide. Study revealed that if suicide were based primarily on individual motives, then it should be random, which shows no particular pattern in the population. Some of the patterns of suicide that were consistent were: Men are more likely to end their own life than women. Divorced individuals more likely than married people. Aboriginal have higher suicide rates than non-aboriginal population.