SOCIOL 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Social Fact, Norm (Social)
4.18.18
- Durkheim Reading
- Credited as defining specific intellectual space in the field of sociology
- A body of knowledge, a way of looking at the world, that attempts to both express
and explain reality
- Revealing skeletal structure that holds things together
- Basic elements that constitute our social structure
- What is a social fact?
- The objects of sociology
- Before beginning the search for the method appropriate to the
study of social facts it is important to know what are the facts
termed social
- Term “social” is used without much precision
- Help us better understand what the object of sociology is
- In every society, there is a clearly determined group of phenomena
separable, because of their distinct characteristics, from those that
from the subject matter of other science of nature
- No human occurence that cannot be called social
- As we go through life, we are constantly surveying each other
- In addition to that, the public can restrict the conduct of any one of
its members by issuing special kind of social/ sociological
punishments
- Sanctions
- Keeping people in line who have stepped out of line
- Means of social control
- Any reaction from others that is meant to ensure that a
person complies with a social norm
- Sociological reaction results in the same punishment as a
crime
- Society has been hammering away at us from the moment we are
born, showing us what is and isn’t acceptable
- Can’t escape reality of social system
- Conforming to over-arching societal expectations
- Societal expectations have a way of asserting themselves very strongly when
people try to rebel
- What is it that makes sociology distinct
- Social facts that exist outside of our consciousness
- Have power over us/ coerce us
- Departures from social norms call forth immediate attempts to restore the correct state of
affairs.
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Document Summary
Credited as defining specific intellectual space in the field of sociology. A body of knowledge, a way of looking at the world, that attempts to both express and explain reality. Revealing skeletal structure that holds things together. Basic elements that constitute our social structure. Before beginning the search for the method appropriate to the study of social facts it is important to know what are the facts termed social. Term social is used without much precision. Help us better understand what the object of sociology is. In every society, there is a clearly determined group of phenomena separable, because of their distinct characteristics, from those that from the subject matter of other science of nature. No human occurence that cannot be called social. As we go through life, we are constantly surveying each other. In addition to that, the public can restrict the conduct of any one of its members by issuing special kind of social/ sociological punishments.
