SOC 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Mail Online, Dependent And Independent Variables, Social Darwinism
Document Summary
Requires a detachment from the taken-for-granted assumptions about social life. Biographies are lived in the context of world events simultaneously determined by historically specific conditions. Sociological imagination involves moving from thinking about the individual and their problems and focusing on the circumstances that produce the problem. System blame: societal conditions that are the primary source of social problems. System is made up of individual people and some people just suck . Person blame: distracts attention away from economic, social, and political institutions. Frees government, economy, and educational systems from blame. Can obstruct the process of creating systemic change. Facilitates institutional control of deviants (legitimizes social programs aimed at individuals like counseling and therapy) Reinforces stereotypes (social darwinism: people are placed in the system based on ability) The key of understanding social problems is understanding the distribution of power in society. Social structure: the system of socioeconomic stratification, social institutions, or other patterned relations between large social groups.
