¶ … Fathers of Sociology
As a discipline, sociology is relatively young. Therefore, many of the great thinkers of the last two centuries have had a tremendous impact on the face of modern sociology. Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, and W.E.B. Du Bois all contributed to the historical development of the discipline of sociology. One can see the lasting impact of those contributions in how sociologists approach human behavior in modern American society.
Emile Durkheim may be the man most responsible for transforming sociology from unscientific observations of human behavior into a disciplined science of human behavior. He drew upon Comte's work in sociology, but felt that his foundations were too vague. Instead of vague assertions about human behavior, Durkheim felt that in order for sociology to be a science, it "must study social facts, i.e. aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals" (Agarwal, N.p.). While Durkheim's work did much for the overall study of sociology, he is probably best-remembered for his work on suicide. Until Durkheim's work, suicide was considered a relatively solitary act, though it clearly had a significant impact on those close to the person who committed suicide. Durkheim challenged this notion, demonstrating that "social factors exert a fundamental influence on suicidal behavior" and that these social factors had a greater relation to suicidal behavior than private factors such as psychopathology (Agarwal, N.p.).
Karl Marx's contributions to sociology are sometimes minimized in comparison to his contributions to economic theory. However, when one understands that, for Marx, it was impossible...
Sociology: Changing Societies in a Diverse World (Fourth Edition) George J. Bryjak & Michael P. Soroka Chapter One Summary of Key Concepts Sociology is the field of study which seeks to "describe, explain, and predict human social patterns" from a scientific perspective. And though Sociology is part of the social sciences (such as psychology and anthropology), it is quite set apart from the other disciplines in social science; that is because it emphasizes
It is evident that poor people, who have a low purchasing power and low production of foodstuffs, will be subject to malnutrition as compared to their counterparts, who have massive income and high production of foodstuffs. The study of sociology is relevant to aiding in the understanding of health in as far as social factors are concerned. In trying to understand the sociological aspect of health, one needs to take
People read the world differently and that explains why they respond to the world differently. For instance my mother is very tidy and neat whereas my father is the exact opposite. When my family is looked at from the social interaction perspective then it can be clearly concluded that symbolic interaction definitely can explain the divorce (Farley, 2012). The conflict theory looks at how people within a family struggle for
They are therefore not determined or restricted by factors such as norms, morals or external principles. A concise definition of this view is as follows: Constructivism views all of our knowledge as "constructed," because it does not reflect any external "transcendent" realities; it is contingent on convention, human perception, and social experience. It is believed by constructivists that representations of physical and biological reality, including race, sexuality, and gender are
In this view, the fact that underprivileged subcultures already promoted a different set of social values emphasizing "street smarts" and toughness instead of socially productive attributes and goals combined with the substitution of deviant role models for father figures is a significant source of criminal conduct, particularly in poor communities (Adler, Mueller & Laufer, 2008). Other modern sociological perspectives began reconsidering crime and other forms of socially deviant behavior as
Even some police still view the partner in domestic violence as "asking" for it in some way. In addition, even though laws in the United States and many other countries have become stiffer, there are still many countries around the world that subscribe to archaic and violent practices against women, often with the approval of their religion or beliefs. The questions that remain unanswered about domestic violence and its long
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