PAMANTASAN NG CABUYAO

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY (SOCSCI 1)

Mrs. Daryl D. Legion
Handout 1
Auguste Comte father of sociology
- An early nineteenth-century French philosopher who conceived the
word sociology in 1839
- he intended to name the new science as social physics, but
rejected the term after a Belgian scholar Adolphe Quetelet called
his area of endeavor social physics
What is Sociology?
A combination of Latin and Greek; socio (society) and logy (study on a high
level)
Sociology means the study of society (men/human beings in
interdependence) on a highly generalized abstract level.
The unit of sociological study is never an individual, but at least two
individuals somehow related to one another. It is interested in what happens
when man meets man.
Definition of Sociology
The study of social relation that affects human behavior.
The science of society and the social interactions taking place in it. It focuses
attention on all kinds of social interactions: social acts, social relationships,
social organization, social structures and social processes. The social facts it
gathers include the recurrent repetitive forms of behavior: attitudes, beliefs,
values, norms and social order.
Importance of Sociology
1. Sociological information enables us to understand our society more objectively
and to see our place in it.
2. The study of sociology enables us to learn application of scientific information
to daily life and problems.
3. It helps us to replace superstitions and misinformation by accurate knowledge
about human behavior.
Early Sociologists
1. Auguste Comte (1798-1867) he believed that sociology would enable men to
achieve social harmony .
2. Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) An English philosopher who believed that one
could learn a great deal about social growth by comparing primitive groups
with more advanced groups.
3. Karl Marx (1848-1883) - A German who saw history as involving a series of
struggles between different social classes. He wrote The Communist
Manifesto
4. William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) An American who believed that the
evolution of society paralleled biological evolution.
5. Lester Frank Ward (1847-1939) The first president of the American
Sociological Association (1906). He believed that societies tend to progress

6.
7.
8.
9.

from national freedom to political freedom and to social freedom which

required planning of social sciences like sociology.
Ferdinand Toennies (1855-1936) He observed the change from close-knit
communities to gemeinschaft in which the individual has no close ties with
others.
Emile Durkheim (1858-1971) Father of Modern Sociology. His work SUICIDE
was one of his contributions to sociology and included his development of the
concept of anomie.
Max Weber (1864-1920) He provided us with his concept of the ideal type and
identified various characteristics of bureaucracy as an ideal type.
Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929) He preferred to look first at smaller
intimate, face-to-face groups such as families and groups.
The first teaching of Sociology in the Philippines was credited to F.
Valentin Marin at the University of Santo Tomas in 1896. In 1911,
Murray Bartlett and A.E.W. Salt initiated sociology at the University of
the Philippines.

AREAS Of SOCIOLOGY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Social Organization this studies social groups, social institutions, social

stratification, mobility, ethnic relations and bureaucracy.
Social Change, Social Organization, Social Disorganization this includes the
study of change in culture and social relations and the current social problems
in society.
Social Psychology this studies human nature as the outcome of group life
personality formation, social attitudes and collective behavior.
Human Ecology this studies the behavior of a given population and its
relationship to the groups present social institutions.
Population Studies this is concerned with population number, composition,
change and quality as they influence the economic, political and social
system.
Sociological Theory and Method this is concerned with listing the
applicability and usefulness of the principles of group life as bases for the
regulation on mans social environment.
Applied Sociology this applies scientific knowledge to solve problems in
various fields of criminology, enology, social work, education, communication,
marriage, family, etc.

The Sciences Related to Sociology but which differ in emphasis:

1. History History provides the data and information needed by the sociologists
in studying the forces that influence mans behavior
2. Political Science this is the study of patterns of power, authority, dominance
and subordination among the members of society. Polsci is concerned with the
development of principles in the conduct of government; sociology is
interested in the form of social interaction going on.
3. Economics This is the study of mans way of making a living and the
societys way of using and allocating resources. The economic activities of
man involve the production, distribution, and consumption of material goods
and services. These processes influence the social behavior of a group and
that of the individual.
4. Social Psychology This is the study of social development of the individual
and that of elementary forms of collective behavior which developed into

social movements. Psych and Soc are grouped together to understand the
individuals behavior in his interpersonal relationship and group membership.
5. Anthropology The interest of Anthro is in the primitive and folk cultures
Social anthropology deals with the social structure and culture of groups

PAMANTASAN NG CABUYAO
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY (SOCSCI 1)
Mrs. Daryl D. Legion
Handout 2
Scientific Method
Refers collectively to a series of steps, which enable sociologists to study
social phenomena in a reasonably objective fashion.
Methods of Sociological Research
1. Questionnaire and Interview Studies systematic ways of asking questions
under scientific controls.
2. Case Studies complete detailed account of some phenomenon.
3. Participant-observer studies- the participant observer seeks insights by taking
himself in whatever he is studying.
4. Survey involves representative sample of a population from where the
subjects were chosen
Steps in Sociological Research
1. Defining the problem
2. Constructing hypotheses. Hypotheses may be defined as a working
assumption temporarily accepted to be true.
3. Collecting evidence for testing hypotheses includes using available data,
interview, questionnaireetc.

4. Analysis of the Data employment of some selective processing to make use

of only those that are the best and pertinent& eliminate those doubtful value.
5. Verification & Conclusion further checking and verification of findings.
Pure Science & Applied Science

Pure Science a pure search for knowledge use.

Applied Science the search for ways of using scientific knowledge to solve
practical problems.

Roles of the Sociologists

1. As a Social Reformer - the sociologist in this view plays the role of arbiter
of all branches of knowledge for the welfare of men.
2. As an Administrator sociologists are called upon by many universities and
agencies to make decisions concerning hiring and firing, promotion and tenure
of their personnel.
3. As a Research Scientist the sociologists foremost task is to discover and
organize knowledge about social life.
4. As a Teacher the major career of most sociologists.
5. As a policy consultant sociological prediction can also help to estimate
the probable effects of a social policy and thus contribute to the selection of
policies.
6. As a technician they are engaged in planning and in conducting
community action programs.

PAMANTASAN NG CABUYAO
INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
Mrs. Daryl D. Legion
Handout 3
Definitions of Culture
Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man as a member of society. (Edward Tylor).
Culture is an organization of learned behavior which together with tangible
and intangible products, is shared by and transmitted among the members
of society. It is a design for living. (Ralph Linton, 1960)
It is what we think, do, and have as members of society. (Bierstedt, 1972)
Culture is an organization of phenomena that are dependent upon
symbols; phenomena which include acts (patterns of behavior), objects

(tools and things), ideas (beliefs, knowledge), and sentiments (attitudes

and values).
Culture is everything, which is socially learned and shared by the members
of a society.
Culture and Civilization
Culture was something man attained as he developed his skills and rational
capacities. Also came to refer as way of life of people.
Culture becomes civilization only when it possesses a written language,
science, philosophy, a highly specialized division of labor, and a complex
technology and political system.
Elements of Culture
1. Material Culture consists of man-made objects which are called artifacts.
2. Non-material Culture consists of the words people use, ideas, customs,
and beliefs they hold, and the habits they follow.
Kinds of Norms
Since culture tells us the way in which things should be done, we can
then say that culture is normative.
Norms standard patterns of behavior
1. Folkways these are simply the customary, normal, habitual ways a group
does things. They have something to do with manners, rules of courtesy and
tradition practices of particular folk. Non-adherents do not necessarily suffer
severe disapproval.
2. Mores These are strong ideas of right and wrong that require certain acts
and forbid others. It has a stronger moral implication than folkways. Violation
of the mores is considered serious.
3. Institutions are organized, long established relatively permanent ways of
satisfying fundamental human needs and interests. Institutions begin in the
folkways, but differ from them in that they are more formal and more
utilitarian.
4. Laws are written and formalized social norms enacted by the people who
are vested with political power and enforced through the state by the person
or organization whose role or function is so defined.
a. Customary Law lacks codification, settled procedure, and
enforcement specialists.
b. Enacted Law codification, settled procedure, and enforcement
specialists are characteristics of enacted law. It requires a
concentration of government power, and it is accompanied by a host of
enforcement specialists.
c. Regulatory Law another type of enacted law. It has been developed in
answer to the need for regulating secondary laws.

IDEAS these are symbols of aspects of culture. They consist of beliefs and values.

 Beliefs are ideas which represent mans convictions about the reality
of things and serve as explanations to understand existence.
Values are ideas which are considered desirable or undesirable as
derived from the expressed preference of people.
Aspects of Cultural Variation
1. Subcultures is a segment of society which shares a distinctive pattern of
mores, folkways and values which differ from pattern of larger society.
2. Countercultures is a subculture that rejects societal norms and values and
seeks alternative lifestyles.
3. Culture shock the experience of disorientation and frustration that occurs
when an individual finds himself among people with culture different than his
own.
Attitude Toward Cultural Variation
1. Ethnocentrism refers to the tendency to assume that ones culture and
way of life are superior to all others.
2. Cultural Relativism views peoples behavior from the perspective of their
own culture.
3. Xenocentrism the belief that the products, styles, or ideas of ones society
are inferior to those that originate elsewhere.

PAMANTASAN NG CABUYAO
Introduction to Sociology
Mrs. Daryl D. Legion
Handout 4
SOCIALIZATION AND PERSONALITY
Socialization is a lifelong process of social experience by which individuals develop
their human potential and learn the patterns of their culture.
Personality from the Latin word persona meaning masks. It is defined as the sum total
of all the traits and characteristics of a person that distinguished him from another.
Determinants of Personality
1. Biological Inheritance (Heredity) - are significant in personality formation for
they set limits to learning or enable the person to learn.
2. Environment refers to the location, climate, topography and natural resources.
Sigmund Freud
He lived in Vienna at a time when most Europeans viewed human behavior as a
reflection of biological forces. He was a physician. His crowning achievement was the
development of psychoanalysis.
Basic Human Needs
Instinct very general human needs in form of urges or drives.
1. Life Instinct (Eros) all human have a basic need for bonding.
2. Death Instinct (Thanatos) aggressive drive of people.
Freuds Model of Personality (Psychoanalytic Theory)
1. Id (Latin word for it) represents the human beings basic needs, which are
unconscious and demand immediate satisfaction. Id is present at birth which
means that a newborn infant is basically a bundle of needs- for attention,
touching, food and so forth.
2. ego (Latin word for I) represents the conscious attempt to balance the innate
pleasure-seeking drives of the human organism and the demands of society. It
develops in response to the fact that we cannot have everything we want.
3. superego (Latin word for above, beyond) is the presence of culture within
the individual. It may be thought of as our understanding of why we cannot have
everything we want. It is based on internalized values and norms and is basically
the same as conscience.
Various Stages of Development
1. Oral Stage (birth to one year) - In this stage eating is the major source of
satisfaction. Fixation at this stage can lead to overeating or alcoholism in
adulthood.

2. Anal Stage (1-3 years) the influencing stage at this factor is toilet training.
Fixation at this stage may result to personalities who are grasping and stingy.
3. Phallic Stage (3-6 years) at this time the greatest source of pleasure comes
from sex organs. This is the time when the child desires the parent of the opposite
sex so that boys desire their mothers (Oedipus complex), and girls desire their
fathers (electra complex).
4. Latency Period (6 adolescence) In this stage children turn their attention to
people outside their families like teachers & friends. Erotic impulses are dormant.
5. Genital Stage (adolescence and beyond) The sexual impulses become active
again and the individual focuses on the opposite sex, looks around for potential
marriage partner, and prepares for marriage and adult responsibilities.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) : Cognitive Development
He became one of the foremost psychologists of the century. His thinking centered
on human cognition the process of thought and understanding. Early in his career,
Piaget became fascinated with the behavior of his own three children, wondering not only
what they knew but also how they understood the world. He gradually concluded that that
childrens conception of the world depends upon their age.
The Sensorimotor Stage (1-2 years)
This is the first stage in Piagets model. In this stage the level of human
development in which the world is experienced is only through sensory contact.
In this stage the infant explores the world by touching, looking, sucking and
listening.
The Pre Operational Stage (2-7)
In this stage the level of human development in which language and other
symbols are first used. Using symbols, children can now engage the world mentallythat
is, without having direct sensory contact with it.
The Concrete Operational Stage (7-11)
The level of human development in this stage is characterized by the use of logic
to understand objects or events. In this stage, children begin to think logically they
connect events in terms of cause and effect.
The Formal Operational Stage (12-)
The fourth stage is the formal operational stage, which is the level of human
development characterized by highly abstract thought and ability to imagine alternatives
to reality.
George Herbert Mead: The Social Self
Within the discipline of sociology, Mead is widely regarded as having made the
greatest contribution to explaining the process of socialization.
The Self
According to Mead, the basis of humanity is the selfthe individuals active
awareness of existing in the midst of society.
1. the self emerges as a result of social experience
2. social experience as the exchange of symbolsmeanings shared by people
engaged in social interaction

3. in order to understand the intentions of others, humans assume one anothers

point of view.

The Looking Glass Self

Charles Horton Cooley, one of Meads colleagues, suggested that others represent
a mirror or looking glass in which we imagine ourselves as they see us. A persons selfconception is based on the responses of others.
The I and the Me
1. there is self as subject, by which we initiate any social action. (The I)
2. there is self as object, which is how we imaging ourselves from the perspective of
someone else.(the me)
Development of the Self
As children learn to use language and other symbols, the self begins to emerge in
the form of play. The last step in the development of the self occurs as children become
able to see themselves as society in general does.

AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION
1. The Family is the most important agent in socialization. It is the entire social
world of children at least until the onset of schooling. The family is also the central
to the process of cultural transmission, by which life is passed from one
generation to the next.
2. Schooling- the most widely recognized task of schooling is to teach children a
wide range of knowledge and skills. Schools further socialize children into
culturally approved sex roles.
3. Peer Groups Peer groups are people in regular interaction who share common
interests, social position and similar age. The peer group differs from the family
and the school by allowing children an escape from the direct supervision of
adults.
4. The Mass Media are impersonal communication directed to a vast audience.
5. Public Opinion Defined as the attitudes of people throughout a society about
one or more controversial issues.

PAMANTASAN NG CABUYAO
Introduction to Sociology
Mrs. Daryl D. Legion
Handout 5
DEVIANCE

Deviance is the recognized violation of cultural norms.

Deviance includes many other types of nonconformity, some viewed as mild, others as
more serious.
Deviance involves differences, both negative and positive which causes us to react to
others as outsiders.

BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF DEVIANCE

Early Research

In 1876, Caesare Lombroso (1835-1909), an Italian Physician who worked in prisons,

suggested that criminals were physically distinctivewith low foreheads, prominent
jaws and cheekbones, protruding ears, hairiness, and usually long arms that made
them resemble human beings apelike ancestors.

Charles Buckman Goring (1870-1919) on the other hand, more carefully compared
thousands of convicts and non-criminals. He found great physical differences between
criminals and non-criminals. He ruled out Lombrosos research.

DELINQUENCY AND BODY STRUCTURE

William
1.
2.
3.

Sheldon (1949) suggested that body structure was significant.

ectomorphs, who were tall, thin and fragile;
endomorphs, who were short and fat; and
mesomorphs, who were muscular and athletic.

Sheldon reported that criminality was linked to muscular athletic body structure.
Sheldon and Eleonor Glueck (1950) however, cautioned that mesomorphic body
structure was not necessarily a cause of criminality. Mesomorphic males, they suggested, were
somewhat more likely to be raised with little affection and understanding from family members
and consequently showed less sensitivity towards others and tended to react aggressively to
frustration,
Gibbons (1981) expecting muscular and athletic boys to be more physically aggressive
than others, thereby provoking the very behavior that is expected.
RECENT RESEARCH
In human development, sex is determined by chromosome, females having two X
chromosomes and males having one X and one Y. In perhaps one case 'in a thousand, genetic
mutation causes a male to have an extra Y chromosome, producing an XYY pattern.
Males with this XYY pattern appear somewhat more often in prisons and mental
institutions. This fact was taken to mean that they were prone to violent criminal behavior, but
subsequent research has refuted this conclusion, indicating only that such men are
significantly taller and perhaps less intelligent than average.
ROBERT MERTON: STRAIN THEORY
Emile Durkheim noted that modern societies are prone to anomie . or normlessness. Such a
condition leaves individuals socially unregulated and prone to deviance.
Robert Merton (1938, 1968) has applied Durkheim's concept of anomie by linking deviance to
certain societal imbalances. Merton's theory begins with the observation that financial success
is a widespread goal and that society endorses certain means to that end. Ideally, then
success is achieved, on the one hand through obtaining an appropriate education and working
hard at a job. "Success" gained through theft or other dishonest activities, on the other hand,
is a violation of cultural norms. Therefore, if people are socialized to want success and to play
by the rules, conformity should result.
Responses To The Inability To Succeed (according to Merton)
1.

innovation - attempting to achieve approved goals using unconventional means. For

example, executives may engage in dishonest business practices or embezzle
company funds
Such innovation results from the "strain" experienced when the value placed on
wealth overpowers the norms that regulate how wealth is to be acquired. The poor
obviously experience this strain to the extent that their aspirations for success are
frustrated by a lack of educational and job opportunities.

2.

ritualism. Common among people of modest social standards who have little
opportunity to gain more in life but fear risking what they have through innovation.
This is illustrated by "bureaucratic ritualists" -as lower-level officials who compulsively
conform to rules to the point of losing sight of their overall purpose. Such people are

deviant in giving up their goal of financial success, although they may be viewed as
"good citizens" because of their rigid adherence to the rules.
3.

retreatism - the rejection of both the goals and the norms of one's culture.,
Retreatists are society's dropouts. This includes some alcoholics and drug addicts, as
well as some of the street people common to Cities.

4.

rebellion. Rebels, however, are advocating radical alternatives to the existing social
order, proposing new, disapproved values and norms. Some seek to do this through
political revolution, while others promote an unconventional religious group.

SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION: SYMBOLIC-INTERACTION ANALYSIS

Labeling Theory
The central contribution of symbolic-interaction analysis is labeling theory, the assertion that
deviance and conformity result from the response of others. Labeling theory stresses the
relativity of deviance, meaning that behavior understood in one situation may be defined
differently in another. Howard S. Berker therefore claims that deviance is nothing more than
"behavior that people so label" (1966:9)
Primary and Secondary Deviance
Edwin Lemert (1951, 1972) explains that being labeled as deviant can change a person's
subsequent behavior Lemert calls activity that is initially defined as deviant primary deviance.
A person who accepts this label may then engage in secondary deviance, behavior caused by
the person's incorporating the deviant label 'into self-concept and social identity. .Initial
labeling, then can encourage the person to fulfill, for better or worse, the expectations of
-others.
Stigma
The development of secondary deviance marks the start of what Erving Goffman (1963) called
a deviant career. This occurs as a consequence of acquiring a stigma, a powerful negative
social label that radically changes a person's social identity and self-concept.
Retrospective Labeling
Once a stigma is acquired, a person may be subject to retrospective labeling. the
interpretation of someone's past consistent with present deviance (Scheff, 1984). For example,
the shooting of Beatle John Lennon by Mark David Chapman in 1980 selectively highlighted
Chapman's running away from home on several occasions, his inability to hold a job, use of
drugs, and compulsion to emulate Lennon.