Our first unit of this introduction to sociology course included a review of the sociological perspective, and a reading that- although dated- still remains quintessential in explaining this perspective. In C. Wright Mill’s chapter, The Promise (of sociology), he outlines a world where people are only somewhat aware of the broader social forces that are impacting their lives. And, in some cases, there is a feeling of being “trapped”, or constricted, by these forces. What are these forces? Social forces are those aspects of society that influence the people in that society, such as social institutions and major events.
Let’s review social institutions, our social location, and the promise of sociology.
Social institutions are those building blocks of society- they include all of the systems. Education, economic base, mass media, churches, community organizations, healthcare, criminal justice, laws and policies, technology, and military are all social institutions. Social institutions means they are systems that provide various functions to society.
If you’ve heard the phrase “systems-level thinking”, that refers to the skill of acquiring knowledge in multiple systems, organizations, or populations, to inform a given goal. For example, if you are starting a business in a new city, it would be helpful to be a systems thinker, because you can consider the town’s demographics, educational opportunities, competing industries, the local culture, the political powers that be and the subsequent policies, and the building of the hierarchy in your own company. If you had just considered your business plan without these broader characteristics, you might have missed something vital to avoid or capitalize on.
In your introductory post, you included a brief summary of your social location. Your social location is essentially where you are “located” in the geography, hierarchy, and characteristics of your community. These include the social factors in your life- your age, race, gender, religion, educational attainment, social background, occupation of your parents, and other aspects of your life that could categorize you with other people. Now, no one likes to be put in a box- this does not mean that you are totally similar to others in your categories. The point of looking at an individual’s social location, and comparing people by social factors, is to understand more about that society. For example, what aspects could lead to a strikingly low rate of alcohol consumption on a college campus? What about a huge difference in education in men vs women in a certain city? What about a lower than average state unemployment rate? This is the study of sociology. It is the researching of social factors, and characteristics of a community, that also drive our behavior.
The questions just posed help exemplify public issues. What makes something a public issue vs a personal trouble? For starters, if you are adversely impacted by a public issue, it is a personal trouble. Secondly, just because something is a public issue and it’s your personal trouble, does not mean “blaming society” and ignoring individual factors contributing to that situation. This is a really important distinction. Sociologists do study society- but not to explain everything, just to highlight the social factors that many of us are exposed to, regardless of our personal opinions.
You all gave varied, descriptive explanations of what you think makes something a public issue. Many of you said that it is a phenomena that impacts everyone, or a large portion, of a society. Things like racism, mass violence, and college debt are societal phenomena present in our society; we are all affected in our own ways.
Public issues have social contributing factors. Regardless of how many people are affected, or how significant or serious the impact is, public issues signify that there are societal level influences. What are those aspects of a society- a city, neighborhood, state, country, college campus- that influence public issues. And remember- public issues and social problems are not always problems to everyone- let’s just say they are trends in society.
Social theory is a tool that can be learned in a term, that can be applied to any social trend in order to brainstorm factors that can be researched sociologically. It is particularly helpful to expand our perspective, so we don’t get stuck in a rut with our initial idea of why things are the way they are. That is not to say common sense can’t be a starting place for sociological research- but as James Henslin writes in your textbook- research has shown that some common sense assumptions can be quite misleading!
To introduce the three main angles from which to view social trends, I’ll again reference the article by C. Wright Mills. The questions he poses with respect to public issues are kind of like foreshadowing social theory….
The questions are:
What is the structure of the society as a whole?
What are its essential components?
These questions relate to functionalism.
Where is this society in history? How is it changing? What is it’s meaning for the development of humanity as a whole?
These questions relate to symbolic interactionism.
What kinds of men and women prevail in this society?
Liberated and oppressed?
These questions relate to conflict theory.
FUNCTIONALISM is the angle that looks at social institutions, and how those institutions affect each other and fulfill functions in society. If you were to research unemployment, you might consider how the education system or the local industries influence this issue. Also, what social function does unemployment serve?
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM is the angle that considers the deeper meaning behind social behaviors, or our perception of the issue. In this way, symbolic interactionism also relates to things like mass media, which you could say might be influencing our perceptions (especially at a young age). In researching unemployment, this perspective might consider what people think about being unemployed- is it accepted? Are people more willing to be unemployed than to take a job they perceive as “below them”? What do people think it means to be on welfare?
CONFLICT THEORY is the angle that sort of asks the question, who or what is benefiting from this trend? It assumes there are people that succeed or fail in society, but also that there are certain groups with more power than others that can influence society. What local policies relate to unemployment- are the politicians backing a certain industry that outsources labor? Is there less of a market for goods in a community so headquarters are moved? Are those in power inflicting policies that cause industries to fail?
These theoretical perspectives- angles from which to examine society- are ways to conceptualize social factors. They are not opinions or political orientations- and they are always used to then test theories and research factors.
That sums up a review of social institutions, your social location, and public issues- with an introduction to social theory.
