Sociological and Anthropological Perspectives

Specific Objectives

To define sociological perspective and understand the sociological imagination

To distinguish the various types of sociological perspectives

To define anthropological perspective

To illustrate how these perspectives explain the nature of man, its culture, and its

development in the society

The Sociological Perspective

Sociology is broadly defined as the scientific study of social interaction/behavior

and social organization. As an academic discipline, it helps in general enlightenment of

social behavior and society, challenges popular myths (such as women as the weaker sex)

and identifies social problems & designs solutions Sociology can be further divided into

two subcategories. One is Microsociology which is the detailed study of what people say,

do, and think moment by moment as they go about their daily lives. Second is

Macrosociology which focuses upon large-scale and long-term social processes of

organizations, institutions, and broad social patterns.

New Levels of Reality

The Sociological Perspective is a distinctive point of view at the core of the

discipline of Sociology that encourages people to examine aspects of the social

environment in ways that delve beneath the surface. The Sociological perspective aims to

examine human behavior not in isolation but in placing it in the larger social context. In a

sense, by looking beyond the outer appearances of the social world, people likewise

encounter new levels of reality often ignored. Utilizing such view, this is like seeing the

general in the particular which helps us recognize the general patterns in the behavior of

particular people. Another view is seeing the strange in the particular wherein people

come to experience the variations that exist in society such as deviance and others. This is

also helpful in seeing individuality in social context, such as social forces are at work in

society to influence most personal actions.

The benefits of sociological perspectives are that through sociological

perspective, it helps people critically assess commonsense ideas as applicable in their

daily lives. It also reveals the opportunities and constraints in people’s lives and in the

process empowers for active participants in society by identifying social forces and

understanding their consequences. More importantly it facilitates a critical assessment of

people’s ways of life especially in globally integrated village. In sum, the sociological

view allows a wholistic view of the underlying forces or factors that mold the operation

and dynamics of society. By using social perspective, it facilitates knowledge of the

different facets and dynamics of society and social life, as well as in influence the policy

makers craft decisions pertaining to pressing social behaviors issues.

There are two underlying goals of sociological perspectives. One is to identify the

prevailing patterns and influences on social behavior. Second is to provide the

explanation for such patterns. The essence of the sociological imagination is the ability

to see private experiences and personal difficulties as entwined with the structural

arrangements of society and the prevailing time.

The Development of Sociology

Auguste Comte: The Founder of Sociology

Auguste Comte is commonly credited as being the founder of sociology. He

coined the term sociology. He emphasized that the study of society must be scientific,

and he urged sociologists to employ systematic observation, experimentation, and

comparative historical analysis as their methods. He divided the study of society into

social statics and social dynamics. He saw Sociology as the product of a three-stage

historical development: a) Theological stage (religious: responding to the supernatural);

b) Metaphysical stage (natural rather than supernatural); Scientific stage (explicable

science). Comte favored positivism – which is a way of understanding that is based on

science

Harriet Martineau: Feminist and Methodologist

Harriet Martineau wrote the first book on social research methods and was among

the first to do systematic, scientifically based, social research. Her comparative analysis

of slavery and the position of women in the Western world paved the way for feminist

scholarship and the further pursuit of gender equality.

Herbert Spencer and Social Darwinism.

Herbert Spencer depicted society as a system, a whole made up of interrelated

parts. He also set forth an evolutionary theory of historical development. Social

Darwinism is Spencer's application of evolutionary notions and the concept of survival of

the fittest to the social world. It also maintains that inequality is a social reality which is

desirable. Equality in fact would only upset the societies.

Karl Marx: The Role of Class Conflict.

Karl Marx focused his search for the basic principles of history on the economic

environments in which societies develop. He believed that society is divided into those

who own the means of producing wealth and those who do not, giving rise to class

conflict. Dialectical materialism is Marx's theory that development depends on the clash

of contradictions and the creation of new, more advanced structures out of these clashes.

He espoused the idea that a perfect society is where everyone is equal and where the

working class has prevailed over the elite ruling class.

Émile Durkheim: Social Integration and Social Facts.

Émile Durkheim was especially concerned with social solidarity, distinguishing

between mechanical and organic solidarity. He contended that the distinctive subject

matter of sociology should be the study of social facts.

Max Weber: Subjectivity and Social Organization

Max Weber said that a critical aspect of the sociological enterprise is the study of

the intentions, values, beliefs, and attitudes that underlie people's behavior. He used the

word Verstehen in describing his approach and contributed his notions of the ideal type

and a value-free sociology. He is also important in his idea of the bureaucracy in

governments.

American Sociology

In the United States, sociology and the modern university system arose together.

The first department of sociology was established at the University of Chicago in 1893,

and Chicago served as a "social laboratory" at the beginning of the century. Midcentury

sociologists crafted survey techniques and refined models of society. "New breed"

sociologists in the 1960s and 1970s refined Marxism and established new research

approaches and perspectives.

Contemporary Sociology

Contemporary movements in sociology include critical theory, feminism, and

postmodern social theory.

Theoretical Perspectives

Contemporary sociologists acknowledge three general theoretical perspectives, or

ways of looking at how various social phenomena are related to one another. These are

the functionalist, the conflict, and the symbolic interactionist perspectives.

The Functionalist Perspective.

The structural-functional-or, more simply, functionalist-perspective sees society

as a system. Functionalists identify the structural characteristics and functions and

dysfunctions of institutions, and distinguish between manifest functions and latent

functions. Functionalists also typically assume that most members of a society share a

consensus regarding their core beliefs and values. This is a framework for building theory

that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity

and stability. It emphasizes the importance of: a) Social Structure (any relatively stable

pattern of social behavior); b) Social Functions (the consequences of any social pattern

for the operation of society as a whole).

However, its vision of society as stable and orderly ignores the inequalities of

social class, race, ethnicity and gender that generate tension and conflict. The above led

to the development of the Social-Conflict approach which sees society as an arena of

inequality that generates conflict and change.

The Conflict Perspective

It is a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality

that generates conflict and change. This perspective helps sociologists to investigate how

factors such as race, gender, ethnicity, class and age are linked to unequal distribution of

money, power, education and social prestige. Sociologists who espouse this perspective

are W. E. B. Du Bois, and Karl Marx.

It is applied in the analysis of ongoing conflicts between dominant and

disadvantaged categories of people: rich and poor, men and women, employers and

employees. The conflict approach draws much of its inspiration from the work of Karl

Marx and argues that the structure of society and the nature of social relationships are the

result of past and ongoing conflicts. For Marx, class conflict has been the raging conflict

since the start of civilization. His dream was to eradicate class and create a classless

society.

Nonetheless, some critique this perspective in the sense that it ignores the

influence of shared values and interdependence in promoting unity. Also it is argued that

it lacks scientific objectivity and it takes society in broad strokes while losing sight of the

individual. Nonetheless, this perspective is rather influential since it could not be denied

that conflict is an ever present reality, no organization or society exist without it.

The Symbolic- Interaction Perspective

Symbolic interactionists contend that society is possible because human beings

have the ability to communicate with one another by means of symbols. They say that we

act toward people, objects, and events on the basis of the meanings we impart to them.

Consequently, people experience the world as constructed reality. It can be said that this

perspective is on Micro-level orientation. It is a framework for building theory that sees

society as the product of the everyday interactions of individuals.

Its Basic Assumptions are that: a) Human beings live in a world of symbols and

attach meaning to virtually everything; b) Reality is how people define their

surroundings, their duties towards others, and even their own identities. However, by

concentrating on the individual, it loses sight of the influence of culture and social factors

(class, gender, race etc). As symbols are important part of non-verbal human

communication, it often includes gestures, postures, facial expressions, and others. Some

examples of the symbols are described below.

Symbols Meaning Conveyed

Clenched Fist Defiance

Salute Respect

Moving Head Sideward Rejection or No

L sign using Fingers Loser or Laban Sign

This perspective assumes that gradual change in social norm is due to acceptance

of new symbols. Symbols change as time change. Meanings that are often associated to

symbols evolve depending on time and prevailing social norms. For example while

wearing pink is always associated with being effeminate for example, there is now the

other view that real men should not be afraid to wear pink, that in fact it is acceptable for

men to explore fashion options/accessories/designs previously considered as exclusive

province of women and not lose their being macho . In a sense, there is a redefinition of

some symbols when people begin questioning long held beliefs.

Anthropological Perspectives

Anthropology is a study that deals with the origin of man and society. Its theories

range from traditional, modern to post-modern and as a discipline many of its concepts

are borrowed from biology, psychology, sociology, economics, ecology and others. Over

time, the discipline covers several million years, from the first proto-human ancestors to the

present. Likewise, as a study it covers the widest range of societies, from small hunter-

gatherer bands to modern societies.

Biological Theory of Evolution

Charles Darwin shattered the long held belief of the creation of man as depicted in

the bible. His Theory of Evolution advances the idea that the existence of man, and for

that matter any specie, undergoes a process of natural evolution. Unlike the account in the

Genesis wherein man actually is taken from the image and likeness of God, Darwin

believed that man actually is genetically related to the apes and monkeys. Natural

selection is nothing short of nature playing lottery, in which species in order to survive

must adapt to the changes of the environment otherwise perish. His theory posits the idea

that the world is a harsh environment wherein the weak loses and the strongest and the

fittest survives.

Gregor Mendel, a monk, supported this theory with his own theory on heredity

from his own observation and propagation of plants and flowers. He discovered that traits

are passed by the parent plants to their offspring—and such traits manifest depending

whether the gene traits are dominant or recessive. With the advancement of science, the

discovery of genes further supports this theory. This is explained for instance why some

are diabetic mainly because their parents have been diabetic as well, even if they do not

like sweets that much. Some people are predisposed to certain sickness mainly because

that sickness runs within the family.

The Theory of Social Evolution

On this theory, evolution is not limited to species. This theory advances the idea

that evolution also happens in societies. Like all species, change occurs in societies from

one period of time to another which transforms the original culture. To this end

Montesquieu said that societies normally undergo three stages of prevailing culture: 1)

hunting or savagery, 2) barbarism, 3) civilization. He also asserted that all societies

undergo the same stages.

Edward Tylor likewise supported this idea. He said that some traces of ancient

cultural existence manifest even until the present time. There is for him a process of

cultural evolution, wherein societies evolved from the simple to the complex. He also

noted similarities among societies that led them find the same solutions independently.

Cultural diffusion, on the other hand, is where one culture borrows from one another as a

result of the contact between the two.

Technology, for Lewis Morgan, is the root cause of the progressive evolution.

With the invention and advancement of technology, it also spelt and continuously to do

so, the change in culture. For example, while fifteen years ago cellphones were

considered a luxury, such view is no longer valid as many would consider such gadget of

communication a necessity. In fact, if a person does not know how to operate such gadget

(or even the computer or the internet) he is considered as someone who is technologically

Jurassic in orientation. The same could be said in terms of the effects brought about by

fire, wheel, printing press, powder, and lately internet.

As a theory, however, it has fallen from favor for the 20 th century. Mostly, the

critique against the theory is that it fails to explain why human society is not in uniform,

and that it lacks the ethnographic data as evidence.

Theory of Diffusionism and Acculturation

Diffusion is the process by which cultural traits are transferred to another culture

through interaction. Such interaction is possible through trade, war, migration, and others.

In other words, this is a spreading of culture from the center to the peripheries.

Nonetheless, culture exchange is never a one way street. When one culture borrows, it is

but normal that it also lends some of its cultural traits to another culture. This theory

advances the idea that there were limited/few cultural centers-- it could just even be one

culture,--from which cultural traits diffused. Thus, unlike social evolutionism which

thinks that people innovate independently from one another, the theory of diffusion was

more common and logical explanation for cultural change and spread. This is so since

originality is rare, rather copying is the norm. Franz Boas, while not discounting the

possibility of innovation, considered innovation more as a result of diffusion after all

culture is mostly of foreign origin that are adopted to the cultural context of the

community. This he referred to as diffusion and modification.

Acculturation, on the other hand, is brought about by a dominant culture, which

results to an increased similarity between two cultures. This is type of change of culture

is often reciprocal and asymmetrical. This results to the absorption of the other culture.

Diffusion and acculturation are interrelated. The difference lies that in diffusion it

involves elements of the culture while for acculturation involves the whole culture.

Historicism

This theory believes that there is no universal meaning of culture. Rather, culture

must be interpreted according to its unique and particular context and perspective.

Several views likewise are embedded in historicism. One is that culture is superoganic

which means that culture is separate with the individual, and that separate methodology is

required in understanding a particular culture. Second is the view that culture is relative.

It means that each culture is distinct, thus, it must not be judged using the criteria of

another culture. For this view, it holds that culture has to be interpreted using the view of

the original culture in order to fully grasp the importance and beauty of the practices in a

particular culture. Third is the view is closely associated with individual personality.

Culture is like an individual that possesses its own quirks, with more or less consistent

patterns of thoughts and behavior. Such culture is but reflection of the emotional and

characteristics of the individuals that make up the community. As such, culture is the

ultimate expression of the personality of a particular society ala societal psychological

average.

Functionalism

Similar with the discussion on sociological functionalism, adherents to this view

think that society is like a living society composed of several parts and organs. Members

of the society are the different cogs that make up the entirety of the society, each with its

own purpose and function.

There are two existing views of functionalism. The first is bio-cultural or

psychological functionalism. An individual has needs which the societal institutions

addresses, such as in the aspects of education, economics, social control, and political

organizations. Absent these instituted societal devices, an individual would be lost as to

how to properly address his needs. The second view is the structuralist-functionalist

which focuses more on social structure. Society is conceived as a system of relationships

maintaining itself through cybernetic feedback, while institutions are orderly sets of

relationships whose function is to maintain the society as a system. Individuals are

dispensable in this view since they are merely treated as occupants of social roles. Social

phenomena have to be constructed on a macro or social level.

Cultural Materialism

For this theory, production and reproduction dominate and determine the sectors of

culture. Organizational aspects that exist in society are for the benefits of enhancing the

productive capabilities of the society, lest they would not exist. Thus, law, government,

and kinship are mere social constructs that serve the purpose of production. Social

construct means that people agree that these organizational aspects, norms, and practices

should exist for it serves the purpose of creating things which are desired by the society.

While this view liberally borrows from the Marxist perspective of production as the

material base of society, this view is devoid of class conflict. For this view, cultural

materialism exists as only one feature of the society.

Cognitive Anthropology

Cognitive anthropology regards culture of cognitive organization expressed

through material phenomena. Hence, unlike cultural materialism, this view looks more on

the relationship between human thought and human culture. Cognitive anthropologists

study on how people understand and organize the material objects, events, and

experiences the people they study perceive their world. Its chief aim is to present the

logical system of thought of other people, according to criteria which can be discovered

and replicated. Such logical rules exist on the ideas that exist on the minds. As such, the

emphasis is on the rules, not the behavior. While it cannot predict human behavior, it

delineates behavior deemed as acceptable and not acceptable per rules of the society in a

given time and situation. It hopes that by understanding a particular culture through a

sound theoretical explanation, it could create a cross-cultural comparison which could

become a general theory of all culture.

Structuralism

This view is based on Claude Lévi-Strauss' view that people think about the world

in terms of binary opposites, for example thin and fat, black and white, sunrise and

sunset, birth and death, and that every culture can be understood in terms of these

opposites. It proposed that there are hidden realities beneath all cultural expression.

Structuralisms hope to understand the underlying meaning involved in all human though

as expressed in cultural acts. Also, this view emphasizes that elements of culture must be

understood in terms of their relationship to the entire system.

Symbolic and Interpretative Technology

This theory views culture as a symbolic system that arises primarily from human

interpretations of the world. Such interpretations form a shared cultural system of

meaning. It studies symbols and the processes by which human assign meaning to these

symbols to address questions pertaining to human existence and social life. It views

culture as independent system of meaning which people deciphers through symbols and

other rituals.

Notes to Remember

Sociology - scientific study of social interaction/behavior and social organization

Auguste Comte -the founder of sociology

Karl Marx- Believed that class conflict exists in society

The structural-functional perspective- sees society as a system

The Conflict Perspective- sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and

change

Symbolic-Interaction Perspective-society is possible because human beings have the

ability to communicate with one another by means of symbols

Anthropology- is a study that deals with the origin of man and society

Biological Theory of Evolution- believes that species undergoes the process of natural

selection and that for species to survive they must adapt to the environmental changes

Theory of Social Evolution- Like all species, change occurs in societies from one period

of time to another which transforms the original culture

Diffusion - process by which cultural traits are transferred to another culture through

interaction

Acculturation- wherein a dominant culture influences another culture, which results to an

increased similarity between the two cultures

Historicism- Believes that there is no universal meaning of culture. Rather, culture must

be interpreted according to its unique and particular context and perspective

Functionalism –this view think that society is like a living society composed of several

parts and organs

Cognitive anthropology- regards culture of cognitive organization expressed through

material phenomena

Structuralism- view that people think about the world in terms of binary opposites