SOC100H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Institute For Operations Research And The Management Sciences, Altruistic Suicide, Social Forces

• School: UTM
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC100H5
• Professor: Nathan Innocente

Document Summary

Dispels myths - shed light on common assumptions systematic study of human behaviour in a social context informs about social structures, behaviour, culture, etc. Sociological perspective seeing the general in the particular, the strange in the familiar identify social context in which we live and how these contexts shape our lives. Why people commit suicide: fear, state of mind, physiological disorders. Sociology - the systematic study of human behaviour in social context. Emile durkheim: sociologist (19th century) suicide rates are strongly influenced by social forces (not just individual psychology) o varied based on social solidarity in different categories of the population. Social solidarity: (1) the degree to which group members share beliefs and values (2) the intensity/frequency of their interaction. Value: ideas about what is good/bad and right/wrong. More social solidarity in a group = more firmly anchored individuals are to the social world making them less likely to commit suicide.