SOCA01H3 Lecture Notes - Domestic Violence, Symbolic Interactionism, Structural Functionalism
Document Summary
Common-sensical explanations of social life are usually: untested, and, marred by voluntaristic bias (latin word will) Social knowledge is: systematically tested in research, and. Tepperman, albanese,curtis: sociology is a study of social behavior in human societies, with an emphasis on agency, current in sociology of 2000s, social cause: neo-liberalism and rational-choice theory. Same as decision and choices (in textbook: social structure: a relatively stable network of social relations that enable and constrain individual agency, culture: ideas (understanding, values, norms) about society. Norms: examples: gender, religion and music. Individual identity is product of society (cf. symbolic interactionalism: we cannot build and individual identity without the society: social structure must satisfy survival requirements (cf. functionalism) Society encourages having of children despite the extra work that must be put into raising them. This allows for another generation to be created. Institutions are inherently conservative (or they would not be functional: they enable unthinking routine activity) Elements of the sociological approach: theory, research, values.
