SOCY 275 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Positivism, Ecological Study, Human Ecology

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Social Sci, Edu and Soc Work - Sociology
• Course: SOCY 275
• Professor: Stacey Alerie

Document Summary

What happened before chicago school was developed: demonic perspective, classical theory, protosociology, Descriptions of crime and deviance, discuss social communities that existed, techniques they used, all descriptions and no explanations: philosophical roots. Knowledge as a cultural process, sociological positivism. We acquire knowledge through the social world in which we live: knowledge as a cultural process. Sociological positivism: natural sciences, empirical evidence to support claims, research. Sociological positivism is more developed and focused. How people interact and how it affects behaviour, norms of society, history of society. Society is constantly changing, and produced by the people within in, and interpreted by the people within it. Innovative: different from everything before, they set the ground, first department of its kind, institutionalized and formalized the sociology of crime and deviance, focused, professional scholars, research was specific. Emphasized the study of ecological distribution of deviance and social disorganization and the use of ethnography. First hand knowledge: focused on primitive cultures, customs, beliefs, interactions.