SY101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Symbolic Interactionism, Talcott Parsons, George Herbert Mead
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SY101 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Sociology: the systematic study of human behavior in social context. Social causes are distinct from physical and emotional causes. Understanding social causes can help clarify otherwise inexplicable features of famine, marriage, and so on. The organization of the social world opens some opportunities and closes others, thus limiting our freedom and helping to make us what we are (we don"t have free will) A sociological school of thought that stresses how human behaviour is governed by social structures that are based mainly on shared values and that contribute to social stability. Social phenomena persists if they contribute to social stability and die off if they don"t. From the functionalist viewpoint fashion trends come and go because they allow social inequality to persist. Without this purpose we would not have fashion cycles. In terms of fashion: richer individuals distinguish themselves from one another with a speci c type of look, which helps preserve the ordered layering of society into classes.
