Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

what do sociologists mean by society

Satisfactory Essays
601 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
what do sociologists mean by society
What do sociologists mean when they talk about ‘society’?
There are different types of sociologists so each of those will have different theories on what ‘society’ is. Some of the types of sociologist is: a typical sociologist, feminists, functionalists, marxist new rights.
The simplest way of describing what society is – a group of people who share a defined territory or culture. This is people who live amongst each other but people usually stereotype different parts of society. A typical sociologist will explain this further by saying that it is also the social structure and interactions of a person/group of people. Social structure is the patterns of behaviour and relationships within one specific group of people. Therefore the theory that one type of sociologist will put forward is that society is not just people and the cultures that they have amongst the community, but it is also peoples relationships and interactions that go on between the community which build up a society.
Feminist sociologists believe that society is patriarchial – which means that a system of society or government is controlled purely by male figures. Feminist sociologist try to get women more involved in the community and try to enforce gender equality or even make the females more superior to men. Feminists believe there are several differences in society between men and women who they would like to make equal. One of these differences is – Gender oppression. Gender oppression is a theory that women are actively oppressed and even abused by men. They believe that power is a key part that can be changed in the two main theories of gender oppression.
Marxism is a worldview and method of societal analysis that focuses on class relations and societal conflict. Marxist sociologists believe that economics are what determines society. These include things like: politics, religion, law and culture. Basically they think that the way goods are made and distributed determines the ways that people think/relate to eachother, which in the end also determines the structure of society. Marxists also see society as if it’s resting upon an economic infrastructure, with a superstructure above it that is controlled by and for the rich and wealthy. Marxists strongly believe that there is a societal split and many people struggle to fit into one complete society, therefore many separate ones which determine the way people treat eachother too,
Functionalism understands each part of society in ways of how something can contribute to the stability of the society as a whole. They believe that society is more than just lots of different parts; they would rather believe that each part of society is functional for the society as a whole. The different parts are mainly the associations of society, each of which is organized to fill different needs and each of which has particular consequences for the form and shape of society. They believe that all of the parts of society depend on each other to be able to work as a whole.
The New Right theory was developed in sociology in the 1980s. It's based on the idea that the traditional nuclear family and its values (mum, dad and kids, parents are married, dad in paid employment) are best for society. New Right sociologists believe that the increase in lone-parent and re-constituted families and the easier access to divorce have led to a breakdown in traditional values. They say that this causes social problems such as crime increase. Some politicians have made use of the new right theory. It's had an influence on social policy - making it harder for people to get benefits.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Unit 7 Sociology

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sociology is the study of society and different social structure within, social structure are large groups within society such as;…

    • 843 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    unit 7

    • 3346 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Sociology is the study of society and the different social structures within it. Sociology examines the role of the individual within society; it is viewed as the scientific study of society…

    • 3346 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    unit 7 p1

    • 1140 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Feminism is based on the social experiences from a women’s point of view. Feminism looks at society from a viewpoint of males, making females visible within the society. Feminism has two main bases of roles which are, redressing the balance and study society from a female…

    • 1140 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminist believe that there is a clear difference between men and woman. There are three types of Feminism one of the three is Marxism they look at class and believe that society is controlled by men and Capitalists (the wealthy ruling class) and also think that the cause of women’s oppression isn’t men but is capitalism they think that women’s oppression produces many functions for capitalism to work these are there that women do unpaid work at home for example cleaning or as cooking (domestic labour) and receive lower income making them financially dependent on the man also they bring up and socialise the children while the men are out working socialising means teacher the children the norms and values from a young age. Women also prepare men for work as they absorb all…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminism examines society particularly from the viewpoint of women, and argues that mainstream sociology has been focused on the concerns of men, and failed to consider the unequal position of women. It is a conflict theory, and the basic assumption is that women suffer certain injustices on account of their sex.…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sociological Autobiography

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Sociology is study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society. It has a lot to do with cultures, and cultures are a big part of our lives. Because of this, sociology can be spotted and examined throughout almost all aspects of life.…

    • 1221 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Countermovement Examples

    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Personally, I have came to the conclusion that sociology is how society affects a person. This includes everything I already listed with family, ethnicity, peers, class, education, and government. Everyone is affected by these but not all in the same way as others. Sociology is the study of a person in their life; it’s by seeing how all of these things have impacted them, and still seeing the current impacts; and even trying to predict future ones. Sociology is the systematic study of human societies; it’s not quite a study but an observation.…

    • 1396 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sociology and Suicide

    • 3277 Words
    • 14 Pages

    The development of ‘sociology’ as a discipline occurred during the 19th century, in an attempt to develop a science of society whose methodological principles shared similarities with that of the natural sciences. The term "sociology" was accredited to Auguste Comte (1838), one of the original initiators of the subject, which he believed could encompass all sciences into a cohesive whole. Sociology defines society as an object, which exists, can be studied and for which laws can be formulated. Therefore, sociology must be able to account for social phenomenon. This led to the development of a variety of ‘sociological theories’ or ‘macro perspectives’, a set of ideologies that attempt to explain the function and structure of society. Prior to the development of Sociology, earlier attempts at understanding human behaviour were humanistic in approach, unguided by the principles of scientific methodology.…

    • 3277 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sociology is the study of society and the different social structures within it. Social structures examples of large groups that are in society. For example, family, religion, health and social care, mass media, economic system etc.…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sociology 101

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One might spend time studying a successful marriage; however a Sociologist is not interested in hearing about a specific marriage’s problems.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminist sociologists see it as their role to examine the position of women in society, and to uncover the ways in which patriarchy, or the power of men, has been used to control and oppress women. – Their choice of research tends to be influenced by this.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    sociol

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Sociologists view society in different ways. Some see the world basically as a stable and on-going entity. They are impressed with the endurance of the family, organized religion and other social institutions.…

    • 616 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Feminism

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages

    * Feminist sociologists believe that society is built on conflict – (disagreement) between men and women, they believe that men have all the power in society and that it is unfair towards women.…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    I believe that sociology is the study of the influence on the society brought by human interactions and human factors outside of their environment, and the whole point of studying sociology is that to understand the patterns in human behaviours in order to apply them into a wider society, and joint individual problems and public problems together.…

    • 965 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Society

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Therefore the sociologists have tried to define society in a way which distinguished it from other sociological concepts like group, association, institution, community etc. According to them the term society does not imply a group of persons or individuals.…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics