Notes:
Sociological Perspective: the process of understanding and explaining how individuals and groups interact within society (HP).
Social Structures: the distinctive and stable arrangements of social patterns that form the society as a whole (HP).
Social Problems: societal conditions that harm segments of society (HP).
social facts — social patterns that are external to individuals and greatly influence our way of thinking and behaving in society.
feminist theory, a view on anti-oppression, gender relations, and gender inequality, evolved from the conflict theory and is an important contemporary sociological perspective.
queer theory, a critical view that rejects the traditional categories of gender, sex, and sexuality in contemporary society.
postmodern social theory, a critical view rejecting the historical, scientific, and structured means of investigating and interpreting the social world.
rationalization of society, the replacement of traditional values and personal connections with bureaucracy, efficiency, and a means-end approach.
These are the common characteristics and functions of social structures:
- organizes behaviors of large groups of people
- capable of coercing individuals and groups
- provides norms, rules, and practices
- assigns roles and powers to individuals and groups
- encompasses large geographical areas
sociological imagination, the ability to see the details of our own lives in the context of larger social structures as opposed to merely personal choices or personal troubles.
anomie, the breakdown of social values, norms, and order resulting in social instability.