Sociological Theorists and Vagrancy Statutes Paper Assignment 1 Throughout history theorists and scholars alike have studied the implications of law and punishment on society, and the effects of society on law and punishment. Uncovered in the works of Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Michel Foucault and Norbert Elias, are historical explanations of political and social determinants to legal change and their effects on economics, values and morality, and an overall well-being of ‘civilized’ nations. “Vagrancy,” being one of the malleable laws, ranging from ‘unemployed workers,’ ‘shiftless beggars,’ to ‘gamblers’ (players at dice), changes drastically within the structure of power and law. It will be my attempt throughout this paper to delineate and compare the works of social theorists and their regards for vagrancy statutes. Unlike many social theorists, Emile Durkheim saw punishment as the central mechanism in the enforcement of ‘social and moral solidarity,’ which were “fundamental conditions of collective life and social cohesion,” forming what Durkheim calls the ‘collective conscience’ (23).
“Sociological Imagination” by C. Wright Mills was written in 1959. It aims to address the social unrest amongst the society at that time and the method designed to fix these issues. Mills believed that the basic understandings of the social matters of our lives are affected not only by our individual characteristics but also by our place in the social world. Mills uses symbolic interactionism to focus on an individual and his interaction in their society. For Mills the sociological concerns have become more of an administrative concern and not thought about in and intellectual manner, for Mills this approach of thinking and dealing with society was incorrect.
The society’s superstructure or culture comprising of laws, morality, religion and politics. These are determined by society’s infrastructure, methods of production and exchange. He sees in history the conflicts that existed between different classes of people in society – the ruling class and the serfs during feudal times. The French Revolution brought an end to feudalism. But during his time, Marx witnessed the industrial Revolution bringing about conflicts between the capitalists and the proletariat, creating two classes in society – the rich and the poor.
Social policy is the actions, plans and programmes of government bodies and agencies aim to deal with a problem or achieve a goal, for example, preventing crime or reducing poverty. Social policies are sometimes influenced by the findings of sociologists, however this usually depends on the government in power and their political ideologies. There are different types of social problems that cause public concern such as crime and poverty; these usually need some sort of solution. And there are also areas of sociological interest that may have an impact on policy such as why some people are poor, commit crime, or fail in school. Sociologists carry out their research from a number of theoretical perspectives, and depending on the views they adopt they will have different ideas about the nature of social problems and know how to solve them.
Nicholas Grubnich Sociology response 5 Pages 82-102 In the beginning of the reading they first discuss cultural relativism which is accepting some ones culture and not judging them if their culture is different from yours. Everyone culture is different and we should accept people for who they are. I feel like this is especially important in the United States because we have so many different types of cultures all in one nation. If there were ethnocentrism then a lot of problems would arise. Our culture effects a lot in an individuals lives, this in known as our subculture.
This essay will explain how the sociological imagination aspect works in society. It will define ‘sociological imagination’ and discuss how it can be applied to possible cases. It will also define ‘critical thinking’, ‘de-familiarizing’ and the ‘general in particular’ with particular cases to show its understanding of how these terms work in society. Sociological imagination is what C. Wright Mills defined as a “process whereby you link individual experiences with social institutions and one's place in history. In this perspective, people who are in poverty could link their personal situation to the social forces relevant to their present circumstance” (Macionis and Plummer, 2008: 11-12).
The cultural aspect of the sociological imagination involves the “learned ideas, values, knowledge, rules and customs shared by members of a collectivity” (Holmes et al, 2003, pg 11). Culture in the sociological imagination allows the comprehension of why people hold certain ideas and values, and follows certain rules and customs. The critical aspect of the sociological imagination stipulates the initiative to analyze. Although it is, by human nature, to assume the meaning of actions carried out by people, C. Wright Mills claims that assumptions are not enough. Through assumptions, many things are taken for granted and the true meaning is not revealed.
According to Mills (1970) “we must think ourselves away from the familiar routines of our daily lives in order to look at them anew”- The sociological imagination is the ability to think of human society as well as personal experience. What C. Wright Mills called the ‘sociological imagination' is the recognition that what happens in an individual's life and may appear purely personal has social consequences that actually reflect much wider public issues. Human behaviour and biography shapes society, and vise-versa and one cannot be properly understood without the other. If a sociologist was trying to understand two friends having coffee for example then they would examine it as social interaction, as acceptable drug taking, and as part of a complex mix of social and economic processes. They might also assess the fact that coffee is produced by the poor but drunk mainly by the better off, they would examine the history of coffee drinking.
Sociology is a social science that seeks to understand complexities of human society. Sociological theories are ideas that seek to explain how society works. There is a wide range of sociological theories in terms of their priorities, perspectives and the data that exist or encompass the endless ways of viewing reality. In order to determine the nature of man, to be outside the knowledge of his experience, ambition, qualifications of values refer to the community in which he grew up and is shaped. The impact on the personality of the individual, it has the characteristics of participation in the life of the community.
There is increasing interest in something called "phenomenological sociology." If this interest is to be sustained, indeed if this sub-discipline is to contribute to our knowledge of the social world, we must become clear on what phenomenological sociology is and can become. At present serious problems exist in the writings of many sociologists who have contributed to, and implicitly defined, this approach to sociology. In general, they display only a metaphorical understanding of phenomenology as a philosophy and as a set of methods. In addition, and partly as a result, they fail to understand the relationship between sociology and phenomenology.