Social Facts & Social Currents
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Emile Durkheim
answer
- French man - Considered the 1st sociologist - Beliefs: 1. There is a such thing as society 2. What makes an individual is a reflection of social process in society
question
Social facts
answer
- A kind of action that is not individual but \"social\" and regular - The main task of sociology is to identify & explain social facts - 2 types: 1. Material 2. Non material - Should never be reduced to the level of the individual
question
Characteristics of Social facts
answer
1. They are external to the individual 2. They constrain the individual 3. They are fairly general throughout the social unit 4. They are resilient to time & change 5. They can be identified with means or rates
question
Material Social Facts
answer
- have concrete measurable properties - the observable patterns of social life - the institutional structure of society
question
Nonmaterial Social Facts
answer
- Cannot be directly observed - Must be inferred from their influence on behavior - Ex: Morality, culture, social order
question
Society as an emergent organism = Functionalism
answer
- More than the sum of its parts - An integrated, bound system of institutions - Based on the functional interdependence of parts in a complex system - Will survive beyond the individual
question
How will society survive beyond the individual?
answer
- Sometimes at the expense of the individual - Society will either adapt or get rid of any function that gets in the way of its survival
question
Objections to Functionalism
answer
1. Why can't we observe society if it is real...if it's alive & it's organic? - Observed through certain regularities
question
Regularities
answer
1. Social facts 2. Social Currents
question
Social Currents
answer
Impulsive feelings that power a mob, even overriding some \"social facts\" - Don't last: come and go - Strong influences that affect many, if not all, individuals - Can solidify into a social fat
question
Differences between social facts & social currents
answer
1. \"social current\" is strong but short-lived 2. \"social fact\" is more persistent - More resilient to time & social change
question
\"Where do social facts come from?\"
answer
- Critique 1 of Durkheim - Response: social facts emerge from other social facts, they don't exist in isolation
question
\"Psychologists already explained the stuff you're explaining\"
answer
- Critique 2 of Durkheim - Response: 1. Psychology studies how individuals function, and believe that individuals exist outside of a group (perform the ecological fallacy) 2. Sociology studies how groups function, and believe that individuals cannot exist outside of groups
question
\" The whole is more than the sum of its parts\"
answer
- Critique 3 of Durkheim - Response: The collective possesses qualities that cannot be found in each individual alone. - Groups have: collective consciousness & collective effervescence
question
Collective consciousness
answer
A strong sense of social cohesion that manifests itself in collective behaviors
question
Collective effervescence
answer
The euphoric feeling of intense connection with the group
