SOC102H1 Chapter Notes -Social Constructionism, Social Inequality, Moral Panic
Document Summary
A condition/pattern of behavior that warrants public concern/collective action. Sociology is well- equipped to help us inform ourselves about current problems and their possible solutions. Sociology is an engaged, progressive, and optimistic discipline founded on the notion that we can improve society through research and the application of research-based knowledge. No field is more likely than sociology to force us to make connections. Sociology has always been about social change, social conflict, and social cohesion and all of these are connected to social problems. Goal: use knowledge to improve social life. Progress" included indus- trialization and urbanization; inventions and scientific discovery; and exposure to new and different ideas and cultures. Progress" also meant the possibility of social improvement or social amelioration". Sociologists then believed that social life could be improved through the systematic study of social issues: by applying knowledge and expelling ignorance, superstition, prejudice, and blind custom.
